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THE  HOUSES  OF 

PROVIDENCE 


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THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 
A  Study  of  Present  Conditions  and  Tendencies 


WITH  NOTES 

on  the 

SURROUNDING  COMMUNITIES 

mi 
SOME  MILL  VILLAGES 


By 
JOHN  IHLDER 

MADGE  HEADLEY 
UDETTA   D.  BROWN 

Auociated 


1916 


SNOW  &  FARNHAM  Co.,  PRINTERS 

PROVIDENCE,    R.    L 


V 


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Italy  in  Providence 


393433 


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LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL 

September  9.    1916. 
MR.  HENRY  D.  SHARPE, 

Chairman,  Committee  on  Housing  Survey, 

Providence,  Rhode  Island. 
DEAR  MR.  SHARPE: 

Herewith  is  our  report  on  housing  conditions  in  Providence. 
While  we  have  found  Providence  to  be  more  fortunate  than  many 
other  cities  so  far  as  the  present  situation  is  concerned,  there  are 
tendencies  here  which,  if  unchecked,  will  rapidly  change  it  for  the 
worse.  We  therefore  hope  that  the  people  of  Providence  and  their 
representatives  may  be  persuaded  soon  to  set  minimum  standards 
which  will  prevent  the  development  of  conditions  that  are  a  menace 
to  the  health  and  well-being  of  the  people  and  in  every  way  a  detri- 
ment to  the  city. 

Providence  to-day  has  advantages  that  other  cities  would  give 
much  to  secure.  It  needs  only  to  use  them.  Providence  has  made 
mistakes  in  the  past  from  which  it  is  suffering;  but  they  are  mistakes 
that  can  be  remedied.  Moreover,  they  are  mistakes  that  may  even 
be  valuable  if  because  of  them  the  people  are  awakened  to  the  need 
of  careful  consideration  for  the  future.  In  no  other  city  of  its  size 
with  which  I  am  acquainted  is  there  such  opportunity  to  build  well, 
for  Providence  still  has  space  both  within  and  without  the  city. 
That  is  the  fundamental.  Having  that,  Providence  can  be  made 
not  only  one  of  the  most  conveniently  arranged  cities  and  one  of  the 
most  wholesome  cities,  but  also  one  of  the  pleasantest.  The  oppor- 
tunities it  presents  are  such  as  should  arouse  the  enthusiasm  of  all 
who  have  faith  in  its  future. 

Sincerely, 

JOHN  IHLDER. 


COMMITTEE  ON  HOUSING  SURVEY 

HENRY  D.  SHARPE,  Chairman 
Miss  E.  FRANCES  O'NEILL 
PROF.  WILLIAM  MACDONALD 
EDWARD  E.  BOHNER 
DR.  JAY  PERKINS 
THOMAS  B.  MAYMON 
MRS.  DWIGHT  K.  BARTLETT 
ROYAL  C.  TAFT 
MORRIS  J.  WESSEL 


GENERAL  COMMITTEE  ON   IMPROVED  HOUSING 
IN  PROVIDENCE 


(Inaugurated    February    4,    1916,    under    the    auspices    of    the    Providence 
Chamber  of  Commerce.) 


Chairman 

Vice-Chairman 

Secretary 


JOHN  HUTCHINS  CADY 

DR.  CHARLES  V.  CHAPIN 

-      WILLIS  E.  CHANDLER 


His  EXCELLENCY  R.  L.  BEECKMAN  Governor  of  Rhode  Island 


DR.  GARDNER  T.  SWARTS 
HON.  JOSEPH  H.  GAINER 
DR.  CHARLES  V.  CHAPIN 
SPENCER  B.  HOPKINS 
REUBEN  S.  BEMIS 
GILES  W.  EASTERBROOKS 
JOHN  W.  HORTON 
CHARLES  S.  COULTER 
JOHN  H.  CADY 
HENRY  D.  SHARPE 
Miss  E.  FRANCES  O'NEILL 
CHARLES  P.  HALL 
Miss  ANNA  F.  HUNTER 
Miss  HARRIET  E.  THOMAS 
LUTHER  D.  BURLINGAME 
PROF.  WILLIAM  MACDONALD 
MRS.  GERALD  A.  COOPER 
WILLIS  E.  CHANDLER 
DR.  JAY  PERKINS 
PRESCOTT  O.  CLARKE 
Miss  ALICE  W.  HUNT 
MRS.  WILLIAM  M.  CONGDON 
MRS.  HOWARD  K.  HILTON 
THOMAS  B.  MAYMON 

E.  E.  BOHNER 

PAUL  A.  COL  WELL 

JAMES  H.  HURLEY 

MORRIS  J.  WESSEL 

E.  B.  HOMER 

ROYAL  C.  TAFT 

MRS.  DWIGHT  K.  BARTLETT 

DR.  FRANK  L.  DAY 
D.  RUSSELL  BROWN 

MRS.  WILLIAM  LOEB 


Secretary  State  Board  of  Health 

Mayor  of  Providence 

Superintendent  of  Health 

Inspector  of  Buildings 

Inspector  of  Plumbing 

Mayor  of  Paw tucket 

Mayor  of  Cranston 

Providence  Chamber  of  Commerce 

Providence  Chamber  of  Commerce 

Society   for   Organizing   Charity 

Society   for  Organizing   Charity 

Pawtucfyct    Associated    Charities 

Newport  Charity  Organization  Society 

Newport    Civic    League 

R.  L  League  of  Improvement  Societies 

Social  Welfare  League  of  Rhode  Island 

Federal  Hill  House  Association 

Rhode    Island    Anti-Tuberculosis    Association 

League  for  the  Suppression  of  Tuberculosis 

Improved  Tenements  Corporation 

Consumers  League  of  Rhode  Island 

Rhode  Island  Federation  of   Women's   Clubs 

Providence  Housewives'  League 

Rhode  Island  Society   for  the  Prevention   of 
Cruelty    to    Children 

Social   Workers  Club   of  Rhode  Island 

Insurance   Association   of  Providence 

Providence  Real  Estate  Exchange 

Immigrant  Educational  Bureau 

R.  I.  Chapter  American  Institute  of  Architects 

Providence  District  Nursing  Association 

Rhode   Island   Branch   National   Congress   of 
Mothers  and  Parent-Teacher  Associations 

Rhode  Island  Medical  Society 

Providence  Building  Sanitary  and  Educa- 
tional Society 

Providence  Section,  Council  of  Jewish  Women 


5 


jl  WORD  OF  APPRECIATION 

OUR  work  in  Providence  was  unusually  pleasant 
because  of  the  unfailing  interest  and  courtesy 
of  all  those  with  whom  it  brought  us  into  con- 
tact.  The  number  of  these  is  so  great  that  we  cannot 
express  our  appreciation  to  them  all  individually. 
Some  have  given  considerable  time  and  effort  to  aid 
in  making  the  study  a  success.  To  Dr.  Chapin,  who 
has  been  a  constant  source  of  information  and  sugges- 
tion, and  to  Mr.  Butts,  the  chief  sanitary  inspector  in 
the  Health  Department;  to  the  city  engineer,  Mr. 
Bronsdon,  and  to  Mr.  Colwell,  of  his  office,  who 
filled  in  the  map  of  unaccepted  and  unsewered 
streets;  to  the  inspector  of  buildings,  Mr.  Hopkins,  and 
the  members  of  his  staff,  who  supplied  us  with  a  great 
amount  of  information;  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
which  has  generously  supported  the  work;  to  Col. 
George  H.  Shepley,  Mr.  John  R.  Freeman  and  Mr. 
Paul  A.  Colwell;  to  Mr.  Francis  M.  Smith,  of  whose 
maps  we  made  such  constant  use,  and  to  other  real- 
estate  men;  to  members  of  the  committee,  the  District 
Nurses  and  other  social  workers,  whose  intimate 
knowledge  of  local  conditions  was  invaluable  to  us,  as 
well  as  to  the  officers  and  members  of  the  Committee 
on  a  Housing  Survey,  we  feel  a  special  debt. 


Contents 

PROVIDENCE,  PAST  AND  FUTURE 

I.  The  Growth  and  Development  of  the  City 

II.  Tendencies  in  Building 

III.  The  Use  of  the  Land 

IV.  The  Supply  of  Dwellings 
V.  Fire  Hazard 

VI.  Standards  of  Living 

VII.  Housekeeping 

VIII.  Building  and  Management 

IX.  Surrounding  Communities 

X.  Some  Mill  Villages 

XI.  Summary 

XII.      Recommendations 

\ 

APPENDIX 
Method  of  Work 


The  Houses  of  Providence 

A  STUDY  OF  PRESENT  CONDITIONS  AND  TENDENCIES 

There  is  about  Providence  an  individuality  and  a  charm  that 
tend  to  divert  not  only  its  own  people,  but  the  stranger,  from  con- 
sideration of  present  and  future  by  constantly  presenting  to  them 
reminders  of  a  past  rich  in  history  and  tradition.  Memories  of  the 
heroism  of  colony  days,  of  the  spirit  that  led  men  and  women  to 
endure  privation  for  conscience'  sake  are  kept  alive  by  such  street 
names  as  Benevolent,  Benefit,  Hope;  the  romance  of  our  old  sea- 
faring days,  when  buccaneering  was  a  profession  in  which  the  most 
respectable  engaged,  is  recalled  by  the  little  streets  leading  down  to 
the  old  wharves,  Doubloon,  Sovereign,  Guilder.  And  the  power  of 
tradition  over  those  who  still  control  the  destinies  of  the  city  is  shown 
by  the  transition  through  Bullion,  Gold,  Silver  and  Coin  to  Dollar 
and  Dime  streets.  But  if  there  is  any  significance  in  these  names  as 
casting  some  light  upon  the  times  that  are  past,  is  there  not  equal  sig- 
nificance in  street  names  now  appearing  in  the  more  recently  built 
sections  of  the  city — Angelo,  Raphael,  Aventine,  Monticello, 
Hassan? 

As  with  its  street  names,  so  with  its  dwellings,  Providence  points 
back  to  the  past  and  forward  to  the  future.  And  what  cause  for 
wonder  is  there  if  one  looks  backward  oftener  and  longer  than  he 
looks  forward?  Of  the  past  there  survives  the  best.  It  gives  an 
impression  of  a  worthier,  nobler  time  than  the  present.  The  strug- 
gles of  the  past  are  ended.  Those  who  look  back  upon  them  rep- 
resent the  victors.  They  feel  the  comfort,  the  sense  of  security  and 
well-being  of  those  who  have  won  their  fight.  The  struggles  of  the 
future,  already  begun,  though  waged  in  the  names  of  new  causes,  are 
for  the  same  prize,  the  right  to  inherit  and  rule  the  land,  to  mold  its 
institutions  and  make  its  contribution  to  the  world.  The  issue  of 
these  new  struggles  is  in  doubt.  Contemplation  of  them  gives  little 
comfort,  little  sense  of  security  and  well-being.  Their  appeal  is  to 
those  who  retain  the  old  zest  for  fighting  and  enduring,  who  have 
faith  that  however  well  we  have  done  in  the  past  we  shall  and  will 
do  better  in  the  future. 

So  Providence  takes  a  legitimate  pride  in  its  old  dwellings, 
which  typify,  as  nothing  else  can  do,  the  story  of  its  past;  the  houses 
of  its  sea-captains  along  South  Main  Street — many  now  converted  to 
other  uses  or  occupied  by  people  of  whose  ancestors  the  captains  told 
strange  yarns  on  their  return  from  long  voyages;  the  more  impressive 
mansions  on  Benefit  and  Power  and  other  streets  back  on  the  hill, 
among  them  some  of  the  most  beautiful  examples  of  our  Colonial  and 

11 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

early  Republican  home-building.  To  one  who  would  study  the  his- 
tory of  the  dwelling-house  in  America  no  city  offers  such  opportunity 
as  does  Providence. 

What  wonder  then,  with  these  reminders  constantly  before  them, 
if  the  American  born  of  American  ancestry  find  pleasure  in  recalling 
the  past?  And  it  is  more  than  reminders  that  the  past  has  given  to 
the  present.  Generations  of  wealth  and  culture  have  gone  to  pro- 
duce the  atmosphere  that  makes  so  large  a  part  of  Providence  charm. 
It  is  not  street  names  and  old  houses,  it  is  what  those  names  and 
houses  symbolize;  it  is  not  alone  present  wealth  and  education,  it  is 
past  wealth  and  education,  with  their  generations'  long  effect  upon 
standards  of  living,  standards  of  conduct  and  of  thought,  that  make 
the  Providence  of  first  impressions. 

So  Providence  owes  much  to  the  past,  and  it  acknowledges  the 
debt.  But  Providence  also  owes  a  debt  to  the  future.  Having 
received,  it  must  also  give.  And  to  be  v/orth  having  its  gift  must  be 
not  merely  of  its  possessions,  but  of  itself.  In  that  lies  the  value  of 
the  gift  it  has  received.  Steadfast  courage,  willingness  to  sacrifice 
for  an  ideal,  to  work  despite  discouragement,  is  the  real  legacy  from 
the  past  and  that  is  the  only  legacy  which  will  count  for  the  future. 

Of  its  debt  to  the  future  Providence  has  begun  to  make 
acknowledgment.  Like  every  American  city  it  provides  schools  for 
the  children  of  those  whom  its  industries  have  called.  It  has  organ- 
izations whose  purpose  is  to  relieve  the  poor  and  the  sick  and  put 
them  upon  their  feet  again.  It  gives  some  aid  to  the  bewildered  im- 
migrant. And  yet  one  questions  how  many  share  the  sense  of 
obligation,  how  much  of  the  debt  is  paid  in  a  spirit  of  detachment, 
because  other  cities  are  doing  it;  how  much  is  done  because  of  a 
realization  that  such  payment  is  vital  and  that  according  as  it  includes 
understanding  and  sympathy  as  well  as  money,  depends  how  the 
future  of  Providence  will  compare  with  its  past,  how  the  present 
generation  will  be  judged  by  its  successors. 

Our  interest  in  reminders  of  the  past  is  because  they  speak  to 
us  of  the  men  and  women  of  the  past.  Quaint  names  of  streets 
appeal,  not  because  of  their  unfamiliar  sound  to  modern  ears,  but 
because  they  tell  of  ideals  which  were  part  of  men's  lives;  dignified 
and  beautiful  dwellings  arouse  our  enthusiasm  not  merely  because 
of  their  dignity  and  beauty,  but  because  they  symbolize  the  spirit  of 
their  builders.  These  men  and  women  not  only  conquered  a  wilder- 
ness but  they  set  and,  in  spite  of  temptations,  kept  high  standards  for 
themselves  and  their  community. 

Our  interest  in  the  symbols  of  present  and  future  has  the  same 
basis,  a  vital  concern  in  the  ideals  and  the  spirit  of  the  present  and 
future  generations.  Doubloon  and  Bullion  speak  of  desire  for 
wealth  achieved  through  adventure  and  daring;  Dollar  and  Dime 
speak  of  desire  for  wealth  achieved  through  industry  and  thrift. 
Adventure  pursued  too  far  would  become  mere  lawlessness.  The 

12 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

Rhode  Island  of  the  past  sometimes  approached  the  border  line,  but 
it  saved  itself.  Thrift  pursued  too  far  becomes  mere  short-sighted 
miserliness.  Will  Providence  save  itself  from  this?  Benevolent, 
Benefit,  Hope  recall  the  successful  effort  to  meet  the  great  issue  which 
confronted  men  in  the  days  of  their  christening.  Will  Angelo, 
Raphael,  Hassan  remind  our  successors  of  achievement  or  failure  in 
our  effort  to  make  a  new  people? 

A  British  subject  once  called  America  the  melting-pot.  The 
phrase  caught  our  fancy.  But  it  describes  aspirations  rather  than 
performance.  Garibaldi,  an  exile  in  America,  declared  it  no  land 
for  the  patriots  of  other  lands  because  it  draws  them  so  irresistibly 
that  they  forget  the  country  of  their  birth.  Yet  Garibaldi,  a  natur- 
alized American  citizen,  returned  to  Italy  to  lead  his  Thousand. 
Old  loyalties,  old  habits  of  thought,  old  standards  of  living  are  not 
thrown  overboard  during  an  ocean  voyage,  nor  during  a  lifetime. 
Given  the  continuance  of  an  old-world  environment  they  may  con- 
tinue to  the  third  and  fourth  generation. 

The  ingredients  for  the  melting-pot  are  present  in  Providence 
and  in  Rhode  Island  in  greater  proportion  than  in  most  of  our  cities 
and  states.  Under  every  classification  in  the  Federal  Census  reports 
of  the  foreign  born,  are  residents  of  Providence.  Even  Mexico  and 
India  are  represented.  Are  they  fusing,  are  they  becoming  Ameri- 
cans? Or  are  they  becoming  compact  little  communities  insulated 
from  American  influences  by  group  interests,  by  old-world  habits  of 
thought  and  standards  of  living? 

How  deep  is  the  concern  which  the  American  of  American 
ancestry  feels  in  the  question?  His  city  is  being  remade  under  his 
eyes.  Control  of  its  destiny  is  passing  from  him.  Yet  is  he  not  as 
much  absorbed  as  these  new  comers  in  traditions  of  a  past  which  has 
as  little  reality  to  them  as  have  theirs  to  him?  Here  are  stories  not 
only  of  individuals,  but  of  a  city  and  a  state  in  the  making.  Here 
are  humor  and  pathos  and  devastating  sorrow.  Here  are  higher  bar- 
riers than  those  raised  by  European  ranks  and  castes.  Here  is  the 
joy  of  achievement.  Here  is  the  hopeless  misery  of  families  divided 
between  acceptance  of  the  new  and  devotion  to  the  old.  Here  is  the 
moral  wreck  that  follows  loss  of  old  standards  without  acquirement  of 
new.  Here  are  aspiration  and  loneliness,  desire  for  the  future,  long- 
ing for  the  past.  Yet  what  of  all  this  has  penetrated  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  native  born?  How  has  it  enlightened  his  under- 
standing, quickened  his  sympathy,  educated  him  for  the  task  of  mak- 
ing these  peoples  his  fellow  countrymen?  At  the  Art  Exhibition 
last  winter  there  was  no  sign.  Scenes  from  foreign  cities,  landscapes 
and  sea-scapes,  a  picture  of  old  whaling  ships,  but  no  hint  that  around 
the  corner  is  a  story  that  must  be  interpreted  if  Providence  is  to 
solve  its  problem. 

Recently  we  have  become  awakened  to  the  necessity  for  pre- 
paredness. Already  we  have  passed  through  the  stage  when  we 

13 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

thought  that  more  ships  and  rifles  and  a  larger  army  were  our  greatest 
need.  Already  we  realize  that  to  mobilize  our  industries  is  but  the 
beginning  of  the  task.  Back  of  all  this,  far  more  important  than 
all  this,  is  a  homogeneous  people,  a  people  with  a  single  allegiance. 
And  such  a  people  we  can  get  only  by  turning  their  thoughts  from  the 
past  to  the  future,  from  the  many  lands  of  their  fathers  to  the  one 
great  land  of  their  children. 

But  it  is  not  enough  that  we  should  be  one  people;  we  must 
also  be  a  strong  and  virile  people.  The  founders  of  Providence 
came  into  an  environment  that  killed  the  weak  but  strengthened  the 
strong.  They  lived  in  the  open,  they  had  space  in  which  to  grow 
and  develop.  Times  have  changed.  The  founders  fought  and 
conquered  nature.  We  must  fight  and  conquer  ourselves.  The 
newcomers  to  Providence  find  an  environment  perhaps  more  kindly 
to  the  weak,  but  less  kindly  to  the  strong.  They  live  less  in  the 
open,  constantly  they  are  being  more  cramped.  The  founders  and 
their  children  set  standards  of  living  which  we  accept  as  American. 
The  newcomers  have  lower  standards.  Are  we  raising  these  stand- 
ards or  are  ours  sinking  toward  their  level?  And  what  will  be  the 
results  in  the  future? 

The  answer  to  the  second  question  is  given  by  the  armies  of 
Europe.  When  the  industrial  age  began  in  Germany  people 
crowded  into  cities  unprepared  to  receive  them.  The  result  quickly 
became  evident  to  eyes  which  noted  the  deterioration  of  conscripts 
from  the  industrial  centers.  So  Germany  began  to  wipe  out  its  slums. 
The  future  soldier  must  be  born  and  bred  in  a  wholesome  dwelling. 
England,  despite  the  warnings  of  statesmen  and  reformers,  awoke  only 
when  the  Boer  War  demanded  recruits  from  its  industrial  cities. 
In  Manchester  alone,  of  1  1 ,000  applicants  only  3,000  could  be  ac- 
cepted. A  parliamentary  commission  found  that  the  reasons  for  the 
physical  deterioration  of  England's  manhood  were  poor  food  and 
overcrowding  in  unsanitary  dwellings.  Since  then  the  work  of  clear- 
ing slum  areas  has  been  pressed  with  vigor,  the  garden-city  movement 
has  been  started  and  spread  across  the  kingdom.  But  fourteen  years 
are  too  short  a  time  in  which  to  rear  a  new  and  better  generation. 
When  the  real  histories  of  the  present  war  are  written  we  shall  know 
more  of  the  price  England  has  paid  for  bad  housing. 

And  what  of  America?  Would  it  make  a  better  showing  in 
1916  than  England  did  in  1 900  ?  Our  present  mobilization  along 
the  Mexican  border  gives  no  answer,  for  the  militia,  as  drafted  for 
service,  is  a  self-selected  group  of  the  more  fit.  Analagous  to  the 
English  figures  are  those  of  the  United  States  Marine  Corps  recruit- 
ing stations  for  1915.  Of  the  1,1  10  applicants  in  Boston  only  107 
were  accepted;  of  9,950  applicants  in  New  York  only  234  were  ac- 
cepted; of  2,580  applicants  in  Cleveland  only  209  were  accepted; 
of  3,539  applicants  in  Chicago  only  414  were  accepted;  of  3,01  1 
applicants  in  San  Francisco  only  204  were  accepted.  Of  39,122 

14 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

applicants  throughout  the  country  only  4,051  were  accepted.  This 
is  a  worse  showing  than  that  of  Manchester.  Here,  as  there,  the 
applicants  were  a  self-selected  group,  the  obviously  unfit  not  pre- 
senting themselves.  Somewhat  balancing  this  group  is  that  of  the 
steadily  employed,  who  probably  include  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
physically  fit,  but  who  are  less  likely  to  seek  admission  to  the  army 
in  time  of  peace.  Yet  the  showing  is  one  to  cause  us  disquietude. 
The  preparedness  advocates  tell  us  we  must  hasten  lest  we  be 
caught  unprepared,  for  it  takes  three  years  to  build  a  battleship. 
Those  who  believe  in  a  more  thorough  preparedness,  one  which  will 
fit  us  for  peace  as  well  as  war,  ask  too  that  there  be  no  delay.  For 
it  takes  twenty-one  years  to  rear  a  man. 


15 


I 

The  Growth  and  Development 
of  the  City 


There  can  be  few  more  fascinating  studies  for  those  who  are  in- 
terested in  the  life  about  them  than  a  study  of  the  growth  and  the 
development  of  their  city.  For,  like  the  individual,  a  city  begins 
with  certain  characteristics,  and  as  it  grows,  as  it  encounters  outside 
influences,  assumes  or  shirks  responsibilities,  develops  or  fails  to  de- 
velop foresight  and  vision,  so  does  its  character  change  for  better  or 
for  worse. 

STRONGLY  MARKED  INDIVIDUALITY 

From  this  point  of  view  the  growth  and  development  of  Provi- 
dence are  unusually  interesting.  Founded  by  a  man  whose  purpose 
was  to  provide  a  refuge  for  those  who  were  persecuted  in  the  name 
of  religion,  it  began  as  a  community  of  strongly  marked  individual- 
ities. Uniformity,  even  co-operation,  was  foreign  to  the  natures  of 
those  who  came  to  the  plantations  that  they  might  take  part  in  Roger 
Williams'  "lively  experiment"  by  living  each  according  to  his  own 
light  while  permitting  his  neighbor  to  do  the  same.  From  that  time 
to  this,  strongly  marked  individuality  has  been  a  conspicuous  char- 
acteristic of  Providence  people  and  their  work.  In  their  housing 
this  characteristic  is  so  conspicuous  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  make 
generalizations,  for  important  exceptions  at  once  appear. 

Even  in  social  and  civic  work,  in  the  studies  that  have  been  made 
of  the  community,  there  seems  to  be  an  unusually  strong  tendency  to 
consider  each  as  complete  in  itself.  Conscious  efforts  have  been 
made  to  overcome  this  tendency  by  calling  together  groups  of  people 
interested  in  different  phases  of  the  community  problem,  which,  after 
all,  is  one  great  problem,  no  matter  how  many  phases  it  may  present. 
Yet  the  old  spirit  persists  and  is  evident  even  in  the  City  Planning 
Commission's  studies,  in  which  street  layouts  have  been  determined 
without  much  consideration  for  such  related  problems  as  those  of  lot 
sizes  and  the  varying  traffic  needs  of  different  neighborhoods.  For 
the  distance  between  streets  determines  the  depths  of  lots  and  these 
influence  the  size  and  type  of  dwelling;  while  the  narrow  roadway, 
twenty  feet  or  even  less,  adequate  for  private  vehicles  and  an  oc- 
casional delivery  wagon,  materially  reduces  the  burden  upon  home 
owners  of  small  means.  Yet  these  city  planning  studies  are  indicative 
of  a  great  advance  in  community  feeling,  as  is  impressively  evident 
when  one  studies  the  street  and  sewer  map  of  the  present  city. 

16 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CITY 

Like  our  other  cities  Providence  has  grown  from  small  beginnings 
without  forethought.  It  has  added  sub-division  to  sub-division  as  if 
each  were  to  be  the  last.  It  has  surrounded  and  more  or  less  success- 
fully absorbed  communities  once  lying  far  outside  its  borders.  It  has 
extended  not  only  its  borders,  but  its  built-up  area  until  it  touches  that 
of  another  large  city,  with  which  it  has  had  to  arrange  a  modus  Vivendi 
for  the  disposal  of  community  wastes.  In  all  this  it  has  been  fortu- 
nate, not  because  of  foresight,  but  because  topography  has  compelled 
the  laying  out  of  its  chief  arteries  so  that,  roughly,  they  conform  to 
what  scientific  planning  would  have  decreed.  Again,  in  the  reserva- 
tion of  public  open  spaces  topography  has  compelled  past  generations 
to  build  a  better  city  than  they  would,  since,  had  it  not  been  for  coves 
and  ponds  and  hills,  the  filling  and  grading  of  which  were  beyond  its 
means,  Providence  would  be  to-day  without  some  of  its  chief  glories. 
So,  thanks  to  that  Providence  after  which  it  is  named,  the  city  has 
come  through  the  period  of  haphazard  growth  far  more  fortunately 
than  have  many  of  its  rivals. 

TYPES  OF  HOUSES 

In  another  way  Providence  has  been  fortunate.  Its  growth  has 
been  steady  and  fairly  regular.  Except  for  the  decade  from  1 840  to 
1850,  when  it  nearly  doubled  in  population,  and  that  from  1870  to 
1880,  when  it  grew  from  68,904  to  104,857  (this  growth  be- 
ing due  in  part  to  annexation) ,  there  has  been  no  sudden  influx  of  the 
kind  that  strains  all  civic  and  social  machinery  and  lowers  standards 
of  living.  Just  what  permanent  effect  these  two  "booms"  may  have 
had  it  is  difficult  now  to  determine.  Perhaps  from  the  first  comes  the 
general  acceptance  of  the  two-family  house,  whose  introduction  no 
one  remembers.  Perhaps  from  the  second  comes  the  three-decker. 
For  though  there  are  two-family  houses  apparently  built  more  than  a 
century  ago,  still  in  the  early  days  each  family  had  a  house  to  itself. 
But  the  "booms"  were  of  short  duration,  so  Providence  now  is  fairly 
well  supplied  with  dwellings,  certainly  more  nearly  adequately  sup- 
plied than  most  prosperous  cities  of  its  size.  And,  what  is  even  more 
important,  the  great  majority  of  these  dwellings  have  adequate  open 
spaces  around  them.  Except  in  a  few  comparatively  small  districts, 
Providence  has  not  yet  developed  the  fundamental  housing  evil,  land 
overcrowding. 

THE  METROPOLITAN  DISTRICT 

Historians  of  Providence  divide  its  past  into  three  epochs,  agri- 
cultural, commercial,  industrial.  And  as  it  is  third  and  latest,  one 
gets  the  impression  that  the  industrial  epoch  is  of  comparatively  recent 
origin.  Yet  it  had  been  long  developing  when  the  commercial  era 
ended  with  the  return  of  the  last  East  Indiaman,  in  1 84 1  ;  for  it  was 
in  1  790  that  Moses  Brown  induced  Samuel  Slater  to  come  to  Provi- 
dence instead  of  Philadelphia  and  founded  at  Pawtucket  the  cotton 

17 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

mill  of  Almy,  Brown  and  Slater.  So  while  one  activity  declined, 
another  grew.  And  as  it  grew  it  became  diversified.  The  woolen 
industry  was  attracted  by  Rhode  Island  water-power.  And  after 
the  manufacture  of  woolens  came  those  of  jewelry,  of  machinery,  of 
many  other  articles.  For  us  the  important  fact  is  that  one  epoch 
merged  into  the  other  so  that  the  city  grew  steadily  in  numbers  and 
in  wealth  without  those  violent  transitions  that  wreak  havoc. 

With  the  city  grew  all  the  surrounding  district.  What  the  bay 
and  harbor  had  been  in  earlier  days,  the  streams  that  flow  into  the  bay 
became  in  the  new  age.  Because  of  its  water-power  Pawtucket  was 
chosen  as  the  site  for  the  first  cotton  mill.  By  1830  it  had  a  popula- 
tion of  1,439.  In  1910  it  had  a  population  of  51,622,  and  to-day 
one  estimated  at  55,335.  Meanwhile  the  adjoining  city  of  Central 
Falls  has  grown  until  it  contains  24,000  people,  and  to  the  south  and 
east  have  developed  the  thriving  communities  of  Cranston  and  East 
Providence.  Because  of  their  water-powers  the  Blackstone,  the 
Woonasquatucket  and  the  Pawtuxet  valleys  became  the  series  of  mill 
villages  that  now  form  an  important  part  of  the  metropolitan  district 
and  that  sooner  or  later  must  all  be  considered  in  any  plans  for  the 
metropolis.  Some  of  these  villages,  like  Olneyville,  Merino  and 
Manton,  are  already  within  the  city's  corporate  limits.  Others,  like 
Knightsville  and  Phillipsdale,  are  parts  of  adjoining  corporations. 
With  all  of  them,  as  already  with  Cranston  in  regard  to  water  supply 
and  Pawtucket  in  regard  to  sewage  disposal,  some  means  must  be 
found  of  supplying  those  public  services  that  no  civilized  community 
can  exist  without,  and  that  in  densely  populated  areas  must  be  sup- 
plied by  one  system. 

THE  PEOPLES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

So  far  the  problems  of  the  future  Providence  do  not  differ  in 
kind  from  those  of  old-world  cities  which  are  going  through  a  like 
evolution.  But  the  populations  of  the  old-world  cities  are  fairly  homo- 
geneous, while  that  of  Providence  is  in  marked  degree  heterogeneous. 
Wave  after  wave  of  aliens  has  peacefully  invaded  the  city  and  made 
parts  of  it  their  own.  Dr.  William  Kirk  quotes  an  English  surgeon 
who  had  visited  America,  as  writing  in  1817  that  the  residents  of 
Providence  are  native  Americans.  In  the  earlier  years  of  the  indus- 
trial era  the  operatives  in  the  mills  were  native  Americans.  Soon, 
however,  English  immigrants  began  to  come,  some  are  still  coming, 
and  there  are  districts  in  Providence  largely  peopled  by  the  English 
born  and  their  children,  who  number  more  than  20,000.  The  Irish 
immigration  probably  began  to  assume  large  proportions  about  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  the  great  famine  started  that 
migration  which  nearly  emptied  the  island  of  its  people  into  the  slums 
of  England  and  the  cities  of  America.  To-day  there  are  almost 
50,000  people  of  Irish  blood  in  Providence,  of  whom  approximately 

13 


THE  REAL  PROVIDENCE 

The  map  shows  54  square  miles  of  the  Metropolitan  District,  or  less  than 
the  area  of  St.  Paul,  Denver,  or  Portland,  Ore.,  which  are  erroneously  re- 
garded as  being  in  the  "Providence  Class."  The  population  here,  however,  is 
double  that  of  either  of  those  places.  The  "Metropolitan  Park  District  of 
Providence,"  as  defined  by  the  General  Assembly,  contains  437,844  people. 
The  "Metropolitan  District  of  Providence,"  as  denned  by  the  U.  S.  Government, 
contains  529,630. — From  the  Providence  Magazine,  March,  1916. 


Glimpses  of  Three  Distr.cts.      1,  Italian.     2,  Jew.sh.     3,   Amencan 


Negro. 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CITY 

one  third  are  foreign  born.      Scotland,  too,  has  contributed  its  quota, 
though  it  is  little  more  than  a  fourth  that  of  England. 

These  English-speaking  peoples  made  a  vivid  impression  when 
they  first  arrived,  and  for  years  the  Irish,  with  their  more  distinct  char- 
acteristics and  their  lower  standards  of  living,  formed  a  community 
apart.  But  even  with  them  there  was  no  barrier  of  a  foreign  tongue, 
and  when  more  exotic  peoples  began  to  arrive,  the  Irish,  pushed  from 
behind  out  of  the  poorest  paid  places,  robbed  of  their  strangeness  by 
others  still  more  strange,  began  to  break  up  their  colonies  and  mingle 
with  the  native  born.  Yet  there  are  in  Providence  to-day  large  frag- 
ments of  the  Irish  settlements  in  what  have  now  become  known  as 
Polish  and  Portuguese  neighborhoods.  The  Germans  never  came  in 
any  considerable  numbers,  though  the  census  takers  of  1910  found 
5,244  persons  of  German  blood,  nearly  one  half  of  whom  were  for- 
eign born.  Then  came  the  French  Canadians,  the  white  Portuguese, 
the  Italians,  the  Poles,  the  Russian  and  Polish  Jews,  the  Scandina- 
vians, the  black  Portuguese,  the  Armenians,  and  other  peoples,  many 
of  whom  live  in  compact  groups,  in  which  is  fostered  an  old-world 
race  consciousness  that  will  prolong  indefinitely  the  process  of  Ameri- 
canization. 

The  increasing  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this  process  is  indicated 
by  census  figures,  which  show  that  in  1 900  there  were,  excluding  Eng- 
lish-Canadians, British  and  Irish,  only  2 1 , 1 46  foreign  born  in  the 
city's  population  of  1  75,598,  and  of  these  9,630  came  from  northern 
Europe.  We  have  been  accustomed  to  congratulate  ourselves  upon 
such  a  showing,  believing  that  these  northern  peoples  are  easily  assimi- 
lated. Comparatively  easily  assimilated  they  are.  Providence  is 
nothing  like  as  conscious  of  its  5,244  Germans  and  6,677  Scandina- 
vians, who  live  according  to  American  standards,  as  it  is  of  its  407 
black  Portuguese,  who  pack  the  old  lodging  houses  near  Fox  Point. 
But  we  have  evidence  that  our  optimism  may  have  been  too  easy-go- 
ing. Take  even  the  largest  group  of  those  who  speak  English. 

The  census  of  1910  records  46,455  people  of  Irish  blood, 
15,798  foreign  born  and — more  significant — 23,283  native  born, 
both  of  whose  parents  were  Irish  born.  So  out  of  this  great  number 
there  are  only  7,374  whose  blood  may  contain  another  strain.  For 
it  is  but  recently  that  the  Irish  colonies  have  begun  to  disintegrate, 
and  so  long  as  a  foreign  group  lives  as  a  group  and  maintains  differ- 
ent, especially  lower,  standards,  it  is  not  assimilated.  With  the  Eng- 
lish and  the  Scotch  the  situation  is,  as  might  be  expected,  much  more 
encouraging,  for  of  both  nearly  half  the  native-born  children  have  one 
native-born  parent.  With  the  English  Canadians  it  is  best  of  all,  for 
of  their  native-born  children  2,41  7  have  one  native-born  parent,  while 
of  only  1,397  children  are  both  parents  of  foreign  birth.  In  this  list 
should  be  included  the  5,750  native  born  among  whom  the  census 
tabulators  have  hidden  the  number  whose  foreign-born  parents  came 


19 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

from  different  countries,  for  they  at  least  can  have  no  single  allegiance 
except  to  America. 

THE  MORE  RECENT  IMMIGRANTS 

If  there  was  ground  for  optimism  in  the  census  returns  of  1 900, 
it  is  decreased  by  those  of  1910.  For  since  1 900  the  emphasis  has 
been  changed.  Though  Providence  still  draws  immigrants  from  the 
earlier  sources,  it  is  now  drawing  more  heavily  from  southern  and 
eastern  Europe  and  even  from  Asia.  In  1900  there  were  only  6,256 
Italian  born  in  Providence;  in  1910  there  were  1  7,305,  and  of  9,844 
native-born  children  both  parents  of  all  except  386  were  Italian  born. 
Here  is  as  yet  no  intermixture.  And  so  long  as  their  colonies  remain, 
the  Italians,  like  the  Irish,  may  be  expected  to  marry  among  them- 
selves. As  with  the  Italians  so  with  the  other  stocks  from  which  we 
are  now  drawing  so  largely,  they  live  and  marry  among  themselves. 
With  some  of  them  it  is  esteemed  a  virtue  to  do  as  much  trading  as 
possible  among  themselves.  They  form  little  communities  which  con- 
sciously aim  to  be  as  self-sufficient  as  possible.  As  their  numbers 
grow  so  does  their  ability  to  form  these  self-contained  alien  commun- 
ities in  the  midst  of  an  American  community. 

THE  AMERICAN  NEGROES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

No  description  of  the  race  colonies  of  Providence  would  be 
complete  without  mention  of  the  American  negroes  who,  according  to 
the  census  of  1910,  numbered  5,316  souls.  Except  for  some  of  the 
women  who  have  made  their  homes  with  the  Bravas  near  Fox  Point, 
they  have  little  to  do  with  the  Portuguese  negroes,  but  live  in  their  own 
settlements.  These,  usually  small  groups  of  houses,  are  scattered 
through  the  city.  Though  nearly  one  third  of  the  negro  population 
lives  in  the  first  ward,  it  has  no  well-defined  district  there.  The  largest 
colony  is  in  the  seventh  ward,  between  Cranston  Street  and  Elmwood 
Avenue,  where  some  300  families  occupy  the  houses  along  a  series  of 
narrow  streets,  scarcely  more  than  alleys. 

Though  the  American  negroes  in  Providence  are  too  few  to 
contribute  much  to  its  housing  or  other  social  problems,  they  have 
a  stronger  moral  claim  upon  the  community  than  have  the  aliens  who 
now  are  swarming  in.  Among  them  will  be  found  a  patriotism  as 
strong  as  that  of  the  white  native  born,  and  yet,  a  people  apart,  poor 
and  nearly  helpless,  they  are  finding  it  more  and  more  difficult  even 
to  earn  a  livelihood.  And  those  among  them  who  by  force  of  char- 
acter and  ability  have  risen  in  the  economic  scale,  find  it  almost  impos- 
sible to  secure  for  their  families  such  homes  as  they  desire.  The 
negroes  of  Providence  could  do  little  injury  to  the  community  if  they 
would.  But  the  community  can  do  itself  great  moral  harm  by 
neglecting  its  responsibility  for  them. 

20 


II 
Tendencies  in  Building 


Providence  congratulates  itself,  and  rightly,  upon  having  no 
such  slums  as  have  some  of  the  larger  cities.  It  believes  that  the  de- 
tached type  of  house  prevalent  here  is  a  better  type  than  the  long 
monotonous  rows  of  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore.  It  even  argues  that 
the  frame  three-decker  is  superior  to  these  solid  blocks  of  brick  one- 
family  houses.  Admittedly  the  three-decker  has  advantages,  but  so 
has  the  little  row  house,  and  Providence  might  be  surprised  to  hear 
the  comments  of  Philadelphians  and  Baltimoreans  upon  its  multiple- 
dwellings. 

But  though  the  Providence  of  to-day  may  be  able  to  compare 
its  housing  with  that  of  certain  other  cities  and  feel  pleased  at  the 
showing,  it  should  consider  tendencies  as  well  as  present  conditions. 
It  is  too  early  yet  to  show  by  a  multitude  of  "horrible"  examples  the 
effect  that  the  alien  colonies  are  having  and  will  have  upon  local 
housing,  but  there  are  more  than  enough  such  examples  to  show  what 
the  tendency  is.  The  best  time  to  have  checked  this  tendency  was 
before  it  began.  But  such  foresight  could  scarcely  be  expected,  and 
the  past  is  past.  The  best  time  remaining  is  the  present.  Already 
there  are  vested  interests  which  will  oppose  any  effort  to  set  standards 
that  will  deprive  them  of  expected  profits  from  sweating  the  land  and 
piling  families  up  in  human  warehouses.  But  with  every  year  that 
passes  these  interests  will  grow  stronger,  until  the  time  comes,  as  it  has 
come  in  other  cities,  when,  as  a  mere  matter  of  self-preservation,  the 
community  must  act,  despite  opposition.  Then,  however,  it  will  be 
necessary,  as  it  has  been  in  New  York,  to  compromise  on  standards 
far  below  those  which  should  be  set  and  which  now  can  be  set. 

PLACING  THE  RESPONSIBILITY 

It  is  easy  to  place  the  responsibility  for  deterioration  in  housing 
upon  our  foreign  elements.  In  some  measure  this  may  be  justified, 
but  only  on  the  score  that  it  is  in  accord  with  public  policy  for  the 
native  born  to  leave  the  alien  to  work  out  his  own  salvation.  There 
are  serious  defects  in  this  policy,  however,  which  render  it  scarcely 
tenable.  The  native  born  build  and  own  houses  inhabited  by  the  im- 
migrant. These  houses  set  a  standard  which  the  new  comer  naturally 
accepts  as  American.  What  if  the  Pole,  the  Italian,  the  Portuguese, 
find  these  dwellings  superior  in  some  respects  to  those  from  which  they 
came?  Will  it  satisfy  Providence  that  its  foreign  quarters  are  some- 
what better  than  the  slums  of  Lisbon  and  Naples;  that  its  sanitation 

21 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

is  somewhat  superior  to  that  of  the  villages  of  Russian  Poland? 
What  if  some  of  these  peoples  are  not  accustomed  to  American  ideas 
of  cleanliness,  and  continue  here  old  habits  of  overcrowding  and  slov- 
enliness? Can  we  afford  to  shrug  our  shoulders  and  leave  them  to 
their  own  devices? 

But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  do  not  leave  them  to  their  own  de- 
vices. Why  do  French  Canadians,  Italians  and  Poles  push  Ameri- 
cans, English,  Irish  out  of  the  unskilled  trades?  Have  we  no  profit- 
making  part  in  that?  How  do  they  come  to  live  in  houses  unsani- 
tary, dilapidated,  out  of  repair?  Have  we  no  profit-making  part  in 
that?  If  there  were  no  such  houses  they  would  not  be  lived  in.  If 
Providence  permitted  no  privies  within  its  borders  they  would  not  be 
used.  And  to-day  the  native  born  of  American  ancestry  still  have 
power  to  make  the  laws  and  set  the  standards  for  their  city. 

BUYERS  AND  BUILDERS 

The  earlier  comers  among  our  alien  groups  found  Providence  a 
city  of  small  houses  and  they  accepted  what  they  found.  The  largest 
among  these  earlier  groups  is  not  notable  for  its  thrift.  It  has  left 
little  impression  upon  the  city's  building.  Some  of  the  later  comers 
are  of  a  different  character.  The  white  Portuguese  are  home  buyers. 
So  far  they  have  done  comparatively  little  building,  being  content 
with  what  they  find,  and  in  many  instances  superseding  the  Irish,  who 
once  had  a  considerable  colony  in  the  India  Point  district.  The 
black  Portuguese,  or  Bravas,  are  of  another  stamp.  They  seldom 
bring  their  families,  but  come  and  go,  and  while  here  live  where  and 
how  they  can  live  cheapest.  Some  of  the  old  dwellings  near  Fox 
Point  now  used  as  Brava  lodging  houses  yield  incomes  entirely  out 
of  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  buildings.  The  Poles,  too,  are 
thrifty,  but  like  the  white  Portuguese  they  incline  to  take  what  they 
find  instead  of  building.  They,  too,  are  often  successors  to  the  Irish. 
The  Jews  also  are  house  buyers.  Many  of  the  old  houses  along 
North  Main  Street  now  have  Jewish  owners.  And  in  addition  to 
buying,  the  Jews  build. 

THE  ITALIAN  INFLUENCE 

But  pre-eminent  among  the  newer  comers,  in  their  influence  upon 
Providence  housing,  are  the  Italians.  Both  because  of  their  numbers 
and  because  among  them  thrift  and  the  desire  to  own  real  estate  are 
developed  to  such  a  degree  that  these  virtues  become  obscured,  the 
Italians  are  an  element  worthy  of  serious  study  by  those  who  are  in- 
terested in  the  future  of  the  city. 

In  many  ways  the  Italian  immigrant  measures  up  to  what  we 
believe  is  requisite  in  good  citizenship.  Comparing,  from  the  Ameri- 
can point  of  view,  his  virtues  with  his  vices,  the  former  far  outweigh 

22 


TENDENCIES  IN  BUILDING 

the  latter.  And  even  some  of  what  we  might  call  his  vices  are  but 
virtues  pushed  to  excess,  though  contrariwise,  some  qualities  which  we 
are  wont  to  laud  have  also  crossed  the  border  line.  His  clannishness, 
his  fondness  for  living  among  his  own  people,  which  increases  so 
greatly  the  difficulty  of  Americanization,  is  but  an  expression  of  the 
same  feeling  that  makes  the  Italian  family  the  kind  upon  which  a  city 
and  a  nation  can  be  built.  His  quick  temper,  like  his  demonstrative- 
ness,  his  love  of  color  and  gaiety,  may  prove  a  valuable  element  when 
mixed  with  the  slower  and  more  subdued  temperaments  of  the  north 
in  the  future  American.  His  industry  and  ambition  surely  merit 
American  approbation,  and  though  they  may  call  for  a  check  in  the 
form  of  child-labor  legislation,  his  love  for  his  children  will  quickly 
lessen  this  danger  as  he  rises  in  the  economic  and  social  scale.  But 
those  two  great  virtues  of  his,  of  which  one  hears  constantly  from 
Americans  with  whom  he  has  financial  dealings,  his  thrift  and  his  de- 
sire to  own  real  estate,  are  of  more  lasting  concern. 

Of  course  these  qualities,  like  his  others,  will  be  modified  in  the 
future  when  the  Italian  in  America  has  lost  his  identity.  But  they 
are  of  greater  concern  not  only  to  the  present  but  the  future,  because 
they  are  now  finding  expression  in  ways  which  will  be  permanent. 
We  are  told  by  his  spokesmen  that  he  lives  in  congested  neighbor- 
hoods, in  overcrowded  dwellings,  not  because  he  desires  to  do  so,  but 
because  he  must.  The  poor  take  what  they  can  get,  and  the  great 
majority  of  Italians  in  Providence  are  poor.  Given  his  choice,  the 
Italian  would  live  in  a  cottage  surrounded  by  a  garden.  But  the  Ital- 
ian is  not  poorer  than  the  Pole  and  Portuguese,  who  seem  to  be  under 
no  such  compelling  necessity  to  pack  their  dwellings  together,  however 
much  the  former  may  overcrowd  his  dwelling  within  doors.  It  is  ex- 
cessive thrift  that  has  made  the  Federal  Hill  district  what  it  is.  And 
when  this  excessive  thrift  passes,  as  it  probably  will  in  the  course  of 
two  or  three  generations,  it  will  leave  Providence  permanently  an 
overcrowded  tenement-house  city.  That  is,  it  will  unless  Providence 
now  foresees  the  danger  and  prevents  it. 

FOLLOWING  AMERICAN   PRECEDENTS 

For  the  Italian,  like  the  Jew,  is  not  only  a  buyer  but  a  builder. 
And  however  unlike  the  Jew  he  may  be  in  his  love  for  gardens  and 
open  spaces,  he  is  like  him  in  that  prospect  of  profit  will  lead  him  to 
subordinate  other  cravings  and  build  as  high  and  as  deep  as  the  law 
allows.  Here  again  comes  the  responsibilty  of  the  native  born  of 
American  ancestry.  It  was  they  who  erected  the  first  three-deckers. 
It  was  they  who  said  what  is  permissible  and  what  is  not  when  they 
enacted  the  Providence  building  code.  The  Italian  and  the  Jewish 
builders  are  but  following  American  precedents — and  going  a  little 
further,  are  but  doing  what  Americans  have  said  is  proper,  when  they 
build  double  three-deckers  and  large  brick  tenement  houses,  erect 

23 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

dwellings  on  the  rear  of  lots,  open  windows  within  three  feet  of  an- 
other dwelling  and  in  so  doing  incidentally  close  most  of  the  windows 
in  that  other  dwelling.  What  they  are  doing  Americans  have  done 
before  them  and  said  it  was  good.  The  difference  is  they  are  doing 
more  of  it,  so  much  more  of  it  that  we  cannot  avoid  seeing  the  results, 
and  we  see  that  they  are  bad. 

Already  the  Americans  are  beginning  to  reap  what  they  have 
sown.  Such  land  overcrowding  as  now  obtains  in  the  Atwells  Ave- 
nue district  on  Federal  Hill  increases  revenues,  but  it  lowers  stand- 
ards. Paradoxically,  it  lowers  property  values.  The  Italian  tene- 
ments are  creeping  rapidly  along  the  cross  streets  toward  Broadway. 
And  before  them  go  consternation  and  depreciation.  One  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  dignified  streets  in  the  city  seems  doomed.  This  is  not 
because  a  new  people  are  coming  in.  If  the  new  people  would  live 
as  did  the  old,  the  tragedy  would  be  one  of  individuals,  rather  than  one 
of  the  community;  of  the  present  only,  rather  than  of  the  present  and 
the  future.  But  the  new  people  will  not  live  as  do  the  old.  What 
they  will  do  to  Broadway  is  foreshadowed  by  what  they  are  doing 
in  such  undeveloped  areas  as  that  near  Silver  Lake.  Drawn  by  their 
craving  for  the  open,  for  the  sun  and  the  garden,  they  buy  a  little 
tract  of  land  and  erect  a  small  house.  But,  with  more  forethought 
than  the  native  American,  they  build  that  small  house  on  foundations 
strong  enough  to  bear  two  or  three  additional  stories  against  the  time 
when  they  can  rent  to  newer  comers  and  so  thriftily  add  to  their  in- 
come. Here  and  there  over  this  open  country  the  three-decker  has 
already  appeared,  heralds  of  a  day  when  Silver  Lake  will  duplicate 
Federal  Hill. 


THE   PROGRESS  OF  THE   INVASION 

So  far  the  native  Americans  have  watched  these  foreign  invasions 
as  if  they  were  helpless.  They  surrendered  the  old  houses  on  Main 
Street  to  Portuguese,  Jews  and  Armenians  with  comparatively  little 
regret,  for  these  are  too  far  down  town  for  comfort  in  a  noisy  indus- 
trial city.  But  they  are  surrendering  their  homes  on  Broadway  and 
other  pleasant  streets,  not  because  they  wish,  but  because  undesirable 
buildings  are  changing  the  character  of  the  neighborhood.  To-day 
they  have  one  stronghold,  on  the  East  Side  about  the  university. 
There  are  other  delightful  districts  scattered  about  the  city,  but  in 
none  of  them  is  there  any  sense  of  security.  Even  on  the  hill  there  is 
not  security.  Though  the  Portuguese  to  the  south  threaten  no  serious 
advance,  the  Jews  along  North  Main  Street  are  climbing  the  steep  hill- 
side and  there  are  other  significant  changes.  Coincident  with  the 
building  of  pleasant  homes  along  Blackstone  Boulevard,  cheap  three- 
deckers  are  being  erected  further  north.  And  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
district  apartment  houses  are  appearing.  So  it  is  being  attacked 
both  from  within  and  from  the  rear. 

24 


TENDENCIES  IN  BUILDING 

Yet  means  of  defense  are  available  and  have  been  used  by  other 
cities.  As  long  ago  as  1 878  Providence  made  its  first  attempt  to 
set  standards  by  enacting  a  building  code.  This  was  in  the  second  of 
the  two  decades  during  which  the  city  experienced  an  unusually 
rapid  growth  and,  if  one  may  reason  from  analogies,  the  code  was 
adopted  at  that  time  because  abuses  made  it  necessary.  That  code, 
revised  in  1909  and  with  some  minor  amendments,  is  still  in  force. 
Now  a  new  crisis  has  come.  Providence  to-day  has  considerably  more 
than  twice  the  population  it  had  in  1878.  To-day  it  is  necessary  to 
guard  against  abuses  then  unpracticed  because  unprofitable. 

RESTRICTION    NOT    ENOUGH 

But  it  is  not  on  restriction  alone  that  Providence  can  depend  to 
safeguard  its  homes.  While  setting  standards  for  its  builders  it  must 
itself  supply  certain  public  services.  Because  of  its  radiating  streets 
and  its  traction  system  the  city  has  been  enabled  to  spread  out.  Prob- 
ably to  this  more  than  to  any  other  one  factor — aside  from  its  regular 
growth — is  due  the  small  amount  of  land  overcrowding,  except  in  the 
Italian  and  Jewish  districts.  But  the  city  has  not  taken  advantage  of 
this  opportunity  by  planning  in  advance.  So  there  are  in  all  direc- 
tions streets  that  never  have  been  accepted  because  when  the  authori- 
ties came  to  consider  them — long  after  they  had  been  bordered  by 
dwellings — they  could  be  brought  up  to  requirements  only  at  an  ex- 
pense which  the  present  owners  are  loath  to  assume.  Even  in  the 
older  and  most  crowded  areas,  even  in  the  Atwells  Avenue  section 
of  Federal  Hill,  there  are  many  of  these  unaccepted  streets.  As  an 
unaccepted  street  usually  means  not  only  an  unpaved  street,  but  also 
an  unsewered  street,  it  needs  no  argument  to  prove  that  lack  of  fore- 
sight in  this  instance  at  least  has  had  serious  consequences. 

To  repair  the  results  of  past  neglect  is  not  as  easy  nor  as  cheap 
as  to  have  prevented  them.  And  especially  is  this  true  when  the  peo- 
ple most  directly  concerned  are  much  less  eager  to  secure  the  improve- 
ment than  they  are  to  avoid  paying  for  it.  This  problem  of  the  unac- 
cepted streets,  however,  is  a  community  problem,  not  one  to  be  settled 
by  owners  of  abutting  property  alone.  How  serious  it  is,  how  wide- 
spread, is  indicated  by  a  map  submitted  to  the  committee,  which  pre- 
sents a  graphic  picture  of  a  trilogy  in  which  Providence  has  small 
cause  for  pride:  unaccepted  streets,  unsewered  streets  and  privies. 
This  is  a  situation  calling  for  a  definite  municipal  policy  that  will 
result  in  the  paving  and  sewering  of  all  streets  in  built-up  sections  of 
the  city,  and  the  proper  planning  of  new  sub-divisions  so  that  future 
streets  may  be  made  acceptable  at  a  minimum  cost. 

Surely  a  city  that  has  done  as  well  as  Providence  has  with  its 
water  supply  can  do  equally  well  with  its  waste  disposal.  One  is 
scarcely  more  important  than  the  other.  Yet  Providence  not  only 
supplies  water  to  practically  every  dwelling,  but  even  supplies  the 
26,000  people  in  the  neighboring  city  of  Cranston  as  well. 

25 


Ill 
The  Use  of  the  Land 


Providence  is  an  unusually  spacious  city.  Its  great  good  for- 
tune in  this  respect  is  probably  due  chiefly  to  the  steadiness  of  its 
growth,  for  it  is  during  sharp  spasms  of  development  that  old  stand- 
ards are  surrendered  and  the  people  accept,  on  the  plea  of  temporary 
necessity,  new  and  lower  standards  that  soon  become  permanent.  In 
the  commercial  era  Providence  had  front  yards  before  its  houses,  gar- 
dens and  orchards  behind.  The  transition  to  the  industrial  era  came 
so  gradually,  the  character  and  standards  of  the  people  changed  so 
slowly,  that  the  old  generous  tradition  persisted.  Its  effects  are  evi- 
dent not  only  in  the  older  districts,  where  very  large  lots  still  exist, 
but  in  the  number  of  vacant  lots  in  every  part  of  the  city  and  in  the 
standard  size,  40  or  50  feet  by  80  to  100  feet,  adopted  by  many 
of  the  real-estate  operators  in  laying  out  new  sub-divisions.  Provi- 
dence does  not  reconcile  itself  to  cramped  spaces,  either  public  or 
private. 

Yet,  as  said  before,  it  is  unsafe  to  generalize  for  Providence. 
Large  lots  in  the  older  districts  are  being  filled  with  buildings;  even 
in  the  newest  sub-divisions  the  rule  is  subject  to  many  exceptions,  while 
in  those  of  a  few  years  ago  there  are  occasional  plats,  as  along  God- 
dard,  Lydia  and  Bernon  streets,  where  the  lots  are  so  shallow  that 
rear  yards  are  inadequate  even  when  the  houses  are  flush  with  the 
street  line.  In  the  older  districts  lots  are  of  all  sizes  and  shapes.  An 
illustration  is  afforded  by  the  block  along  Fountain  Street,  between 
Cargill  and  Battey,  a  block  pierced  by  three  blind  alleys:  Penelope 
Court,  Belknap  and  West  streets.  Some  of  the  lots  are  very  large, 
like  that  known  as  Furlong  Court,  and  on  each  of  these  there  may  be 
several  buildings,  placed  most  irregularly.  Adding  to  the  confusion 
is  the  difficulty  of  determining  just  where  the  lot  lines  run.  So  it 
has  proved  impracticable  to  measure  distances  between  buildings  and 
lot  line  in  order  to  determine  whether  adequate  space  has  been  left 
for  light  and  air. 

USE  OF  LARGE  LOTS 

But  here  again  Providence  has  been  fortunate.  Because  of  its 
regular  growth  and  its  means  of  transit,  land  owners  are  only  now 
beginning  to  find  it  profitable  to  erect  dwellings  containing  dark  or 
gloomy  rooms.  The  large  lots  in  old  districts  have  been  utilized  in 
many  ingenious  ways ;  there  are  rear  buildings,  occasionally  three  and 
four  deep,  as  in  the  courts  off  Chaffee  Street.  There  are  buildings 
staggered  so  that  the  rear  dwelling  has  an  outlook  to  the  street  through 

26 


THE  USE  OF  THE  LAND 

the  side  yard  of  the  street  dwelling.  Sometimes  when  the  lot  is  very 
wide  there  are  two  street  dwellings  with  one  in  the  rear  whose  ends 
overlap  the  sides  of  those  in  front  of  it,  but  not  enough  to  cover  their 
rear  windows  nor  to  permit  them  to  cover  its  front  windows.  The 
little  court  so  formed  is  used  in  common  by  the  families  occupying 
all  three  houses. 

In  the  six  districts*  studied  intensively  houses  were  placed  upon 
their  lots  as  follows: 


Dist.  1 
A    B 

Dist.  2        Dist.  3 
ABC 

Dist.  4   Dist.  5   Dist.  6  Totals 

Front 

44 

6 
4 

45 

10 
3 

32 

6 

2 

38 

8 
0 

28 

6 
2 

77 

17 

4 

109 

10 
2 

88 

2 
0 

79 

20 
2 

540 

85 
19 

Rear      

Not  Staggered 
Staggered  

Totals 54    58    40    46    36        98        121  90        101         644 

The  ample  size  of  most  Providence  lots  has  made  possible  here- 
tofore such  ingenious  groupings  without  cutting  off  light  and  air.  For 
if  one  owner  built  too  near  his  lot  line,  his  neighbor  simply  erected  his 
house  a  little  farther  away.  But  though  Providence  is  still  remark- 
able for  the  proportion  of  vacant  lots  in  every  part  of  the  city  and  for 
the  open  spaces  surrounding  its  dwellings,  the  time  has  come  when  de- 
pendence can  no  longer  be  placed  upon  a  generous  tradition  or  upon 
the  desire  of  the  tenant  for  light  and  airy  rooms.  Street  frontages  are 
becoming  too  valuable  to  be  given  up  to  wide  side  yards,  and  even 
on  the  rears  of  lots  new  and  larger  dwellings  are  being  erected  which 
not  only  overfill  their  own  land,  but  block  the  windows  of  neighbor- 
ing houses. 

AN  INSTANCE  OF  LAND  OVERCROWDING 

A  striking  instance  of  this  change  is  afforded  by  the  new  three- 
story  brick  tenement  house  on  the  rear  of  an  Atwells  Avenue  lot. 
Years  ago  the  neighboring  owner  built  a  frame  tenement  house  which 
comes  to  within  1 4  to  18  inches  of  the  lot  line.  The  light  and  air 
for  its  side  windows  came  from  the  rear  yard  of  the  adjoining  lot. 
Now  the  owner  of  that  rear  yard  has  filled  it  up,  building  flush  with 
his  side  line,  and  complying  with  the  law  by  placing  windows  for  bed- 
rooms, water  closets  and  pantries  in  two  little  courts.  So  he  has 
darkened  the  rooms  on  one  side  of  the  old  dwelling  and  built  for 
himself  a  house  that  would  not  have  been  permitted  had  the  framers 
of  the  building  code  foreseen  his  plans.  They  decreed  that  no  win- 
dow shall  be  less  than  three  feet  from  an  adjoining  lot  line  nor  less 
than  ten  feet  from  another  building  on  the  same  premises.  One  of 
his  courts  is  4'  8"  deep  by  6'  8"  wide.  The  other  is  3'  deep  by 

*  These  six  districts  are  outlined  on  the  maps  accompanying  a  brief  de- 
scription in  the  Appendix. 

27 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

6'  4"  wide.  Unless  the  windows  in  the  court  walls  at  right  angle 
to  the  lot  line  are  held  to  come  within  the  proscribed  distance,  he  has 
complied  with  the  letter  of  the  law. 

Such  a  building  as  this  should  be  prohibited,  not  only  in  Provi- 
dence, but  in  any  city.  Especially  should  it  be  prohibited  in  Provi- 
dence, where  there  is  no  great  pressure  of  population  and  where  the 
traditional  large  open  spaces  are  so  frequently  used  in  ways  that  en- 
hance the  well-being  of  the  community. 

THE   YARDS   OF    PROVIDENCE 

The  yards  of  Providence  are  as  impossible  to  describe  by  a  gen- 
eral statement  as  are  other  phases  of  its  housing.  They  range  from 
bare  earth,  packed  hard  by  many  feet,  the  only  play  space  of  scores 
of  children  whose  homes  are  in  surrounding  tenements,  to  the  beautiful 
lawns  and  gardens  of  East  Side  mansions.  The  condition  in  which 
some  are  kept  has  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  Clean  Up  Commit- 
tee. But  to  one  who  knows  the  handicaps  imposed  by  crowded  liv- 
ing and  by  common  use  of  premises,  there  is  cause  for  greatest  en- 
couragement. Under  the  most  adverse  conditions,  in  corners  shel- 
tered from  trampling  feet  by  fences  made  of  odds  and  ends,  are  little 
gardens  which  go  far  to  redeem  the  dingiest  sections  of  the  city.  If 
the  Clean  Up  Committee  would  set  its  mark  beyond  a  negative  ab- 
sence of  rubbish  and  award  its  favor  to  those  who  do  something 
positive  with  their  yards  it  would  accomplish  its  present  purpose  inci- 
dentally to  accomplishing  one  much  greater.  For  those  who  grow 
flowers  and  vegetables  will  not  abide  litter. 

In  this  matter  of  gardens  there  are  wide  variations  between  the 
different  nationalities.  Of  the  Brava  men,  birds  of  passage  who  live 
in  lodging  houses,  whose  standards  are  so  low  that  they  must  be  fol- 
lowed almost  constantly  by  a  cleaner,  there  is  little  hope.  But  the 
white  Portuguese,  whose  homes  are  here,  do  make  use  of  their  little 
squares  of  earth.  The  Irish,  too,  show  an  inclination  to  cultivate  their 
little  yards,  and  even  the  Poles  keep  the  bushes  they  have  inherited 
from  Irish  predecessors,  and  often  add  a  small  vegetable  patch.  The 
French  Canadians,  who  are  more  inclined  to  rent  than  to  buy  or  build, 
do  some  planting,  and  the  Jews,  when  they  have  so  far  established 
themselves  as  to  feel  a  sense  of  permanency,  are  not  behind  the  others. 
In  those  districts  where  the  well-to-do  of  this  people  have  established 
themselves,  as  in  the  southern  end  of  the  fifth  ward,  there  are  as  at- 
tractive yards  as  can  be  found  in  Providence.  With  the  Italians  it  is 
necessary  only  to  give  opportunity.  Until  their  thrift  has  covered  so 
much  of  the  earth  that  the  sun  is  shut  out,  they  utilize  every  available 
foot.  Where  space  for  nothing  else  exists  they  plant  the  vines  from 
whose  grapes  they  make  a  cheap  wine.  In  the  city,  as  in  the  country, 
the  Italian  home  is  proclaimed  by  its  vine-covered  arbor.  When  there 
is  no  longer  space  about  the  house  they  cultivate  neighboring  vacant 

28 


A   House   on   a   rear   lot — Alwells   Avenue 

The  new  house  blocks  all  the  side  windows  of  the  old  house.     An  instance 
of  overcrowding. 


Shall   Providence   progress    from    these 


to  bare  cleanliness 


or  to  gardens? 


THE  USE  OF  THE  LAND 

lots,  and  are  undismayed  even  by  such  unpromising  fields  as  the  steep 
hillside  between  Ridge  Street  and  the  New  Haven  tracks. 

But  to  treat  of  Providence  gardens  in  terms  of  nationalities  is  to 
treat  of  them  inadequately.  They  are  a  tradition  of  the  city,  making 
beautiful  its  most  neglected  corners.  In  Penelope  Court  there  is  such 
a  garden,  the  pride  of  an  old  German  couple  who  have  lived  where 
they  now  are  from  their  youth,  have  seen  their  friends  and  neighbors 
die  or  move  away  and  the  surrounding  houses  pass  into  the  hands  of 
negroes  and  Armenians.  Around  the  corner  from  dilapidated,  de- 
serted rookeries  on  Richmond  Street,  scarcely  a  stone's  throw  from 
tenements  that  shut  out  the  sun  from  little  yards,  are  other  dwellings 
surrounded  by  grass  and  flowers.  Providence  may  decide  to  encour- 
age the  apartment  and  the  tenement,  to  concentrate  land  values  in  its 
downtown  districts  by  covering  them  to  the  utmost  with  buildings, 
but  if  it  does  it  will  become  a  much  less  pleasant  place  in  which  to 
live. 

In  the  six  districts  studied  intensively  gardens,  vines,  etc.,  were 
found  as  follows: 

Dist.  1        Dist.  2        Dist.  3   Dist.  4  Dist.  5   Dist.  6  Totals 
A    B     A     B     C 

None 34  39  35  20  28   47 70    32    43   348 

Yes 20  19   5  26   8   51    51    58    58   296 

Totals 54  58  40  46  36   98    121    90   101    644 


29 


IV 

The  Supply  of  Dwellings 


Some  two  or  three  years  ago  a  speaker  at  a  housing  conference 
in  Massachusetts  declared  that  if  the  supply  of  dwellings  in  a  city  is 
adequate  to  its  needs  that  city  need  not  worry  about  the  character  of 
its  dwellings,  for  the  builders,  in  response  merely  to  the  promptings 
of  self-interest,  will  provide  constantly  better  and  better  types  of 
houses  in  order  to  secure  tenants.  It  were  well  if  the  problem  were 
so  simple.  Providence  proves  it  is  not.  Providence  is  adequately 
supplied  with  dwellings.  Real-estate  men  say  that  the  demand  ex- 
ceeds the  supply  only  at  the  two  ends  of  the  scale,  the  small  single-fam- 
ily house — the  type  that  every  community  desires  to  multiply — and  the 
apartment  house — the  type  that  communities  with  experience  wish  to 
see  decrease.  Yet  the  real-estate  men  are  practically  unanimous  in 
believing  that  the  cottage  does  not  pay  as  an  investment.  But  this  is 
a  question  for  later  consideration.*  The  point  here  is  that  Provi- 
dence, to-day  adequately  supplied  with  dwellings,  tends  to  provide 
for  a  constantly  increasing  proportion  of  its  families,  dwellings  of  an 
inferior  type. 

No  one  who  goes  about  Providence  with  this  question  in  his 
mind  can  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  number  of  "To  Rent"  signs 
and  by  the  number  of  deserted  houses.  The  "To  Rent"  signs  are 
on  dwellings  of  every  grade,  from  the  high-priced  mansion  to  the 
cheap  three-decker.  The  deserted  houses  are,  naturally,  of  the 
cheaper  grades ;  still  there  seems  no  reason  why  they  should  not  be  oc- 
cupied when  one  notices  the  character  of  buildings  in  the  neighbor- 
hood that  have  tenants.  Inquiry  nearly  always  brings  the  answer  that 
the  owner  failed  to  make  repairs.  Left  tenantless  the  building  rapidly 
deteriorates;  it  becomes  the  haunt  of  vagrants  or  of  others  with  clan- 
destine purposes;  those  who  have  need  of  firewood  strip  it  of  doors 
and  boards  until  it  becomes  not  merely  an  eyesore  and  a  public  nui- 
sance, but  sometimes  even  a  tottering  wreck  that  threatens  to  fall  upon 
the  passerby.  Of  such  houses  was  "Shoo  Fly  Village"  composed. 
Such  houses  stand  on  Richmond  and  nearby  streets,  on  West  Ex- 
change, and  in  other  parts  of  the  city.  In  one  of  the  districts 
selected  for  intensive  study  there  were  eleven  of  them. 

MULTIPLE  DWELLINGS  INCREASE 

Yet  with  an  adequate  supply  of  dwellings,  with  a  demand  that 
exceeds  supply  for  cottages,  Providence  is  increasing  the  proportion 

*See  Part  VIII,  Building  and  Management. 
30 


THE  SUPPLY  OF  DWELLINGS 

of  its  three-deckers  and  other  multiple  dwellings.     The  census  of 
1 900  gives  the  following  figures : 

One-family  houses    14,512 

Two-family  houses   8,622 

Three-family   houses    1 ,3 1 3 

Six-family  houses   85 

Ten-family  houses    

Eleven-family  and  more,  houses 7 

Unfortunately  the  census  of  1910,  among  its  other  omissions, 
omitted  a  similar  classification,  so  we  cannot  tell  just  what  was  the 
change  during  the  intervening  decade.  But  from  memoranda  in  the 
Building  Inspector's  office  we  have  learned  what  has  been  the  ten- 
dency during  the  years  191  1-1915  inclusive.  The  classification  of 
these  figures  by  wards  and  years,  showing  the  number  of  houses  of 
different  heights  and  occupied  by  from  one  to  eight  or  more  families, 
will  be  found  on  another  page.  Here  we  shall  merely  give  a  sum- 
mary, which  tells  the  story  with  sufficient  clearness. 

NUMBER    OF    HOUSES    OF    DIFFERENT    TYPES    BUILT    IN    PROVI- 
DENCE DURING  THE  YEARS    1911 -191  5 

8        1  sto.    2  sto.      3  sto.      4  sto. 

12  3  6        &  more     and       and         and         and 

fam.      fam.        fam.        fam. 

1911 
1912 
1913 
1914 
1915 

Total  Houses        770      672      760        59          7      285     1149      748          6 
Total  Families      770     1344    2280      354 

During  these  five  years  more  families  have  been  provided  for  in 
three-deckers  than  in  one  and  two-family  houses  combined.  The  only 
grain  of  comfort  lies  in  the  fact  that  during  the  past  three  years  the 
number  of  new  three-deckers  and  larger  tenements  has  decreased 
slightly,  but  so  slightly  as  to  afford  ground  for  nothing  more  than 
hope. 

In  the  six  districts  selected  for  intensive  study  the  number  of 
families  per  house,  with  one  exception,  averages  higher  than  in  the 
city  as  a  whole,  or  even  in  the  new  buildings  tabulated  above;  for 
these  districts  are  representative  of  those  where  overcrowding  will  first 
appear.  In  one  of  these  districts*  the  average  is  actually  lower  than 
in  the  new  buildings,  a  reminder  of  the  higher  standards  of  a  previous 
generation.  In  both  the  Italian  districts  the  average  number  of  fami- 
lies per  dwelling  ranges  from  three  to  four,  though  the  second  of  these 
districts  is  far  out,  where  the  erection  of  multiple  dwellings  is  not  stim- 
ulated by  scarcity  of  building  sites. 


fam. 

fam. 

fam. 

fam. 

fam. 

H 

2* 

it 

over 

149 

126 

198 

15 

0 

47 

227 

220 

0 

146 

142 

180 

14 

4 

57 

233 

194 

4 

172 

147 

135 

10 

3 

57 

254 

157 

2 

134 

124 

117 

13 

0 

49 

206 

138 

0 

169 

133 

130 

7 

1 

75 

229 

138 

0 

*  No.  4,  Ship  and  Elm  streets. 

31 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 
NUMBER  OF  FAMILIES  AND  HOUSES  BY  DISTRICTS' 


Dist.  1 

Dist.  2 

Dist.  3  Dist.  4   Dist.  5  Dist.  6 

Totals 

A 

B 

A 

B 

C 

Families 

167 

173 

143 

166 

145 

254 

227 

266 

276 

2117 

Houses 

53 

58 

40 

46 

35 

97 

105 

89 

100 

644* 

Average 

3.15 

2.98 

3.57 

3.61 

4.14 

2.61 

2.16 

3. 

2.76 

3.2 

*  21  vacant  and  deserted  houses. 


NUMBER  OF  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE  BY  DISTRICTS 


No. 
Families 

Dist. 

1 

Dist.  2 

Dist.  3 

Dist.  4 

Dist.  5 

Dist.  6 

Totl. 

A 

B 

A 

B 

C 

1 

11 

4 

3 

2 

2 

7 

26 

13 

6 

74 

2 

17 

20 

9 

6 

4 

51 

58 

31 

53 

249 

3 

4 

22 

15 

21 

11 

22 

7 

19 

17 

138 

4 

10 

5 

5 

6 

3 

11 

10 

8 

15 

73 

5 

0 

3 

0 

| 

4 

2 

0 

10 

4 

24 

6 

9 

4 

6 

10 

10 

3 

4 

7 

4 

57 

7 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

2 

8 

2 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

3 

9 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

2 

12 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

Vacant  houses*  0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

11 

1 

1 

14 

Miss** 

1 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

5 

0 

0 

7 

Totals 

54 

58 

40 

46 

36 

98 

121 

90 

101 

644 

ments. 


*  Vacant — Whole  house  vacant  or  deserted.     No  record  of  vacant  tene- 
**  Miscellaneous — Rooming  Houses;    Refused,  etc. 


OCCUPANCY  OF  HOUSES  BY  DISTRICTS 

Dist.  1 


1    Family  only 
1    Suite  per  Floor 
2  Suites  per  Floor 
3  Suites  per  Floor 
Mixed* 
Miscellaneous 
Totals 

A 
11 
16 
18 
2 
6 
1 
54 

B 

4 
42 
9 
0 
3 
0 
58 

A 

3 
25 
9 
2 
1 
0 
40 

B 
2 
28 
13 
0 
3 
0 
46 

C 
2 
15 
13 
0 
5 
1 
36 

7 
71 
15 
0 
4 
1 
98 

19 
63 
14 
0 
6 
19 
121 

13 
48 
18 
0 
9 
2 
90 

7 
67 
18 
1 
7 
1 
101 

68 
375 
127 
5 

44 
25 
644 

*  For  instance,  as  a  dwelling  and  a  store. 


BASEMENTS  AND  ATTICS 


Dist 

.  i 

Dist.  2 

Dist.  3  Dist.  4  Dist.  5  Dist.  6  Totl. 

A 

B 

A 

B 

C 

Basements 

0 

2 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

1 

4 

Attics  occupied 

18 

18 

6 

8 

1 

5 

1 

6 

16 

79 

All  attics 

48 

49 

18 

14 

7 

89 

96 

54 

82 

457 

32 


The  Three-Decker's  progress,  north  of  Promenade  Street 


Deserted   Houses.     Richmond  Street,   near  Ship  Street 


Note  how  the  new  tenement  house  blocks  Messenger  Street,  almost  cutting  it 
in  two.  Messenger  Street  has  never  been  accepted  by  the  city.  It  has  no 
public  sewer.  Yet  it  is  lined  with  large  tenement  houses  against  whose  encroach- 
ments the  city  does  nothing.  Dwellings  of  this  kind  are  not  producing  lower 
rents  for  Providence. 


Lily  Street,  on  the  edge  of  one  of  the  Italian  inspection  districts.  Lily 
Street  is  thirty  feet  wide,  not  wide  enough  to  have  four-story  tenement  houses  on 
either  side.  In  a  house  on  the  left  there  was  a  fire  two  or  three  days  before 
our  visit.  The  flames  went  up  a  vent  shaft  which  furnishes  what  air  they  get, 
but  no  light,  to  a  stack  of  water-closets  and  bedrooms.  The  furniture  in  the 
bedrooms  was  burned;  the  people  escaped. 


THE  SUPPLY  OF  DWELLINGS 

Such  tables  as  these,  necessary  as  they  are  to  check  up  one's  im- 
pressions, do  not  present  a  picture  of  the  city.  They  tell  us  beyond 
controversy  what  the  tendency  in  building  is,  but  they  do  not  show 
the  houses  as  they  are.  They  do  not  show  the  endless  combination  of 
dwelling  with  store,  garage,  workshop,  stable,  even  in  one  instance 
with  a  church.  Nor  do  the  tables  for  new  buildings  show  the  total 
additional  provision  that  is  being  made  for  families.  It  was  not  pos- 
sible to  get  from  the  records  information  as  to  houses  which  have  been 
enlarged  by  raising  them  and  inserting  a  new  story  beneath,  by  build- 
ing a  new  story  on  top,  by  changing  the  attic  into  a  full  story.  Some- 
times a  barn  or  workshop  is  converted  into  a  tenement.  That  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  such  alteration  is  the  belief  of  the  Building  Inspector. 

EVERY  TYPE  OF  DWELLING  IN   PROVIDENCE 

A  picture  of  Providence  housing  would  include  more  than  this. 
During  its  long  history  the  city  has  had  bestowed  upon  it  samples  of 
nearly  every  kind  of  dwelling.  Of  the  fine  houses  that  date  from  the 
early  days  of  the  Republic  and  from  Colonial  times  we  have  no  cause 
to  speak,  except  in  those  few  instances  where  neglect  has  changed  them 
from  objects  of  pride  into  objects  of  reproach.  The  best  of  these  old 
houses  call  for  nothing  but  praise  from  the  housing  worker.  Even 
their  successors,  with  some  of  which  the  architects  find  fault,  form 
no  part  of  a  housing  problem.  Set  in  large  grounds,  with  spacious 
rooms,  supplied  by  well-to-do  owners  with  the  so-called  modern  con- 
veniences, their  chief  use  for  us  is  as  examples  of  what  should  be  done. 
Some  of  the  new  large  houses  are  worthy  successors  of  these  old  man- 
sions. Even  more  admirable  from  a  housing  point  of  view,  for  they 
shelter  people  of  more  slender  means,  are  smaller  houses,  such  as  those 
along  Blackstone  Boulevard,  in  Edgewood  and  Auburn. 

But  with,  or  closely  following  the  best  of  the  older  types,  came 
another,  the  row  house,  borrowed,  perhaps,  like  so  much  else  in  Provi- 
dence, from  the  England  of  a  past  generation,  or  perhaps  from  Bos- 
ton, New  York  or  Philadelphia.  There  are  several  groups  of  these 
houses.  Some  are  well  planned,  and,  like  the  Philadelphia  variety, 
have  abundant  light  in  every  room.  Some,  however,  follow  New 
York  and  Baltimore  precedent  by  having  dark  middle  rooms.  Per- 
haps it  is  these  that  have  created  the  prejudice  against  row  houses  that 
exists  in  Providence.  Of  course,  they  are  not  to  be  compared  with 
the  detached  house,  whose  windows,  opening  to  the  four  points  of  the 
compass,  welcome  in  the  sun  and  breeze.  But  when  one  notes  the  in- 
trusion of  the  apartment  house  he  must  hope  that  a  recent  attempt  to 
re-establish  the  row,  with  janitor  and  other  apartment-house  service, 
may  prove  successful.  The  apartment  house  has  as  yet  scarcely  se- 
cured a  foothold,  and  it  is  seldom  more  than  three  stories  high.  Its 
appeal,  of  course,  is  to  those  who  wish  a  temporary  stopping  place  or 
who  desire  to  escape  the  responsibility  of  housekeeping.  It  is  wel- 

33 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

corned  by  the  real-estate  broker,  who  finds  a  demand  for  its  con- 
veniences. So  far,  each  house  stands  alone,  profiting  by  the  advan- 
tages of  a  residence  neighborhood.  Its  menace  for  the  future,  when, 
with  increasing  numbers,  it  will  depreciate  values  and  change  the  so- 
cial life  and  atmosphere  of  the  city,  is  not  yet  realized. 

The  cottage,  as  the  building  records  show,  is  still  a  favorite 
type,  and  is  to  be  found  in  every  part  of  the  city,  but  especially  in 
the  newer  districts  of  the  second,  third,  sixth  and  eighth  wards,  as 
well  as  in  Cranston  and  East  Providence.  But,  though  the  demand 
for  cottages  may  exceed  the  supply,  the  two-family  houses  (one  fam- 
ily above  the  other)  shelter  a  considerably  larger  part  of  the  popula- 
tion. In  1 900  it  provided  for  1  7,244  families,  as  against  1 4,5 1 2 
in  single-family  houses.  During  the  past  five  years  it  has  provided 
for  1,344  families,  as  against  770  in  single-family  houses.  The 
two-family  type  has  long  been  established  here,  and  while  the  tenant  s 
preference  may  be  for  a  cottage,  the  investment  value  of  the  two- 
family  house  under  present  methods  weighs  down  the  balance. 

The  three-decker  is  a  more  recent  comer,  and  its  rapid  multipli- 
cation was  due  to  the  investment  argument.  If  two  families  pay  bet- 
ter than  one,  then  three  should  pay  better  than  two.  But  housing 
arithmetic  is  not  so  simple  as  that,  and  though  the  three-decker  is  to- 
day nearly  ubiquitous,  there  are  signs,  among  them  the  "To  Let" 
signs,  which  indicate  that  its  popularity  is  failing.  Only  among  the 
Jews  and  the  Italians  does  it  seem  to  have  been  a  pronounced  success. 
But  while  the  former  are  planting  their  three-deckers  closer  together, 
the  latter  are  going  on  to  double  three-deckers,  six-family  houses  and 
larger  tenements. 

In  this  progression  the  Italians  are  matched  by  the  native  born, 
who  also  have  recommenced  the  building  of  large  tenement  blocks, 
usually  of  frame  construction,  but  more  and  more  of  brick.  Recom- 
menced is  the  needed  word,  for  among  its  samples  Providence  con- 
tains some  old  tenement  blocks  that  might  well  have  been  lifted  bodily 
from  the  lower  east  side  of  Manhattan,  solid  masses  of  brick,  with 
narrow  courts. 

There  was  one  element  of  truth  in  the  idea  which  the  speaker 
quoted  at  the  beginning  of  this  section  sought  to  express.  At  least, 
the  evidence  submitted  by  Providence  would  support  such  a  conten- 
tion. Comparatively  few  of  the  inhabited  dwellings  are  in  very  bad 
disrepair.  The  supply  of  dwellings  in  all  but  a  few  districts  being 
adequate,  the  tenant  moves  out  when  the  house  gets  too  bad.  The 
poorer  quarters  of  the  city  may  be  dusty  and  dingy,  streets  may  be 
barren  and  ugly,  yards  may  be  earth,  packed  hard  by  the  feet  of  the 
tenants  and  their  children,  but  the  houses  are  nearly  always  weather 
tight  and  dry;  stairs  and  floors  may  be  worn,  walls  scratched  and 
marked,  but  usually  they  are  sound.  So  again  Providence  may  com- 
pare itself  with  other  cities,  and,  though  it  has  little  cause  for  pride, 
will  find  no  cause  for  shame  in  the  comparison. 

34 


THE  SUPPLY  OF  DWELLINGS 

NEW  DWELLINGS   IN   PROVIDENCE   ERECTED   DURING  THE 
YEARS  1911-1915  INCLUSIVE 


NUMBER  OF  FAMILIES 

1911 

Wards    1  fam. 

l&s.*2fam.  2&s. 

3  fam.    3  &  s.  4  fam.  4  &  s 

.  5  &  s.  6  fam 

.  8  fam.  Totls 

1 

3 

8 

11 

2 

60 

35 

27 

2 

124 

3 

13 

17 

29 

1         5 

65 

4 

1 

3 

1 

3                      1 

2 

11 

5 

2 

1 

28                          1 

32 

6 

36 

35 

1 

35 

107 

7 

10 

8 

9 

27 

8 

17 

12 

35                 2        1 

67 

9 

1 

1 

1 

9        1 

5 

18 

10 

8 

9 

14 

1 

32 

Houses 

149 

122 

4 

197        1         3        2 

1       15 

494 

Families 

149 

244 

8 

591         3       12        8 

5      90 

1110 

*1 

&  s.,   1   family 

and  store. 

1912 

Wards    1  fam. 

1  &  s.    2  fam. 

2&s. 

3  fam.   3  &  s.  4  fam.  4  &  s. 

5  &  s.  6  fam. 

8  fam.  Totls. 

1 

3 

2          4 

2 

| 

1         13 

2 

67 

39 

| 

27 

3 

1*     138 

3 

16 

1       19 

2 

17 

4 

59 

4 

4 

4 

5 

22 

1 

23 

6 

24 

41 

24 

89 

7 

7 

5 

7 

1*      20 

8 

11 

18 

1 

30 

1 

61 

9 

1 

1         2 

13                 1 

1        2 

21 

10 

13 

9 

1 

34 

2 

1*      60 

Houses 

142 

4     137 

5 

180                 1 

1       14 

4      488 

Families 

142 

4    274 

10 

540                 4 

5      84 

*Ward  2,  twelve  families. 
Ward  7,  twelve  families. 
Ward  1 0,  nine  families  and  store. 


1913 

Wards     1  fam.  1  &  s.    2  fam.  2  &  s.  3  fam.    3  &  s.   4  fam.  4  &  s.  5  &  s.  6  fam.  8  fam.  Totls. 


2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 


5 

73 
31 

1 
1 

29 
1 

12 

15 


1 

3 

37 

1 

10 

1 

20 

2 

20    1 

2 

4 

2 

24 

29 

1 

24 

4 

4 

2 

20 

2 

17    1 

3 

1 

8    1 

1 

22 

18 

9 

121 
83 

2*        9 

1*      28 

83 

9 
54 
17 
57 

3      470 


Houses     168        4    140        7      132        3        1        2  10 

Families    168        4     280       14       396         9         4         8  60 

*  Ward  4,  Copley  chambers.     Ward  4,   1    contains  24  apartments. 

Ward  5,  three  stores  and  24  apartments. 

35 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 


1914 

Wards     1  fam.  l&s.    2fam.  2&s.   3  fam.    3&s.  4  f am.  4&s.  5&s.  6fam.  8fam.  Totls. 


1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

41 

1   32 

4 

3 

17 

1   17 

17 

4 

1 

1 

2 

5 

1 

2 

12 

6 

27 

14 

1 

39 

7 

11 

16 

4 

8 

12 

26 

16 

9 

1* 

2 

5 

10 

20 

9 

1 

16 

1      1 


Houses     132        2     120        4      117 
Families    132        2    240        8      351 

*  Ward  9,  two  families  and  a  church. 


4 
2 

13 

78 


7 

80 
54 

7 
15 
81 
31 
56 
13 
49 

393 


1915 

Wards     1  fam.  l&s.    2  fam.  2  &  s.    3  fam.    3  &  s.  4  fam.  4  &  s.  5  &  s.  6  fam.  8  fam.  Totls. 

14 
119 

57 

1  30 

9 

1         1         87 
1  27 

56 

1  4  8 

35 


1 

9 

1         4 

2 

62 

43 

1 

12 

3 

21 

1       19 

5 

11 

4 

2 

26 

1 

5 

2 

7 

6 

24 

27 

1 

33 

7 

10 

8 

1 

7 

8 

17 

5       16 

3 

15 

9 

3 

10 

15 

5 

15 

Houses 

162 

7     122 

11 

129 

1         1 

Families 

162 

7    244 

22 

387 

3        - 

7 

42 


1       442 


NUMBER  OF  STORIES 


1911 

Wards 

1  story 

H  story 

2  story 

2i  story 

3  story 

3£  story        4  story 

Total 

1 

1 

2 

4 

4 

11 

2 

8 

31 

56 

13 

16 

124 

3 

3 

5 

13 

10 

26 

8 

65 

4 

4 

5 

2 

11 

5 

1 

2 

19 

10 

32 

6 

5 

13 

15 

40 

9 

25 

107 

7 

1 

2 

5 

10 

4 

5 

27 

8 

6 

15 

8 

21 

17 

67 

9 

1 

17 

18 

10 

4 

2 

11 

11 

4 

32 

Totals 

9 

38 

84 

143 

129 

91 

494 

36 

THE  SUPPLY  OF  DWELLINGS 


1912 


Wards 

1  story 

li  story 

2  story 

2£  story 

3  story 

3i  story 

4  &  ever          Total 

1 

3 

7 

2 

1*                13 

2 

1 

12 

26 

69 

8 

22 

138 

3 

6 

7 

8 

17 

11 

10 

59 

4 

1 

3 

4 

:> 

3 

20 

23 

6 

1 

8 

5 

53 

3 

19 

89 

7 

2 

4 

1 

6 

3 

4 

20 

8 

1 

9 

10 

9 

6 

26 

61 

9 

3 

10 

6 

2*               21 

10 

2 

4 

7 

9 

5 

32 

1*               60 

Totals 

13 

44 

63 

170 

50 

144 

4*             488 

*Ward 

1,  8  stores,  apartment  hotel. 

1913 

Wards 

1  story 

1J  story 

2  story 

2*  story 

3  story 

3£  story 

4  story            Total 

1 

1 

5 

1 

2 

9 

2 

2 

11 

29 

68 

4 

7 

121 

3 

9 

9 

17 

18 

13 

17 

83 

4 

2 

3 

2 

2                   9 

5 

1 

2 

4 

21 

28 

6 

2 

7 

12 

36 

8 

18 

83 

7 

5 

4 

9 

8 

4 

6 

10 

14 

7 

13 

54 

9 

3 

14 

17 

10 

2 

5 

10 

21 

8 

11 

57 

Totals 

19 

38 

85 

169 

62 

95 

2               470 

1914 

Wards 

1  story 

li  story 

2  story 

2>J  story 

3  story 

3£  story 

'  4  story         Total 

1 

1 

3 

2 

1 

7 

2 

4 

19 

49 

5 

3 

80 

3 

7 

5 

13 

11 

8 

10 

54 

4 

1 

2 

3 

1 

7 

5 

1 

3 

1 

10 

15 

6 

4 

7 

17 

13 

5 

35 

81 

7 

1 

4 

5 

18 

1 

2 

31 

8 

4 

6 

14 

14 

8 

to 

56 

9 

9 

4 

13 

10 

3 

4 

12 

10 

10 

10 

49 

Totals 

19 

30 

83 

123 

52 

86 

393 

1915 

Wards 

1  story 

1J  story 

2  story   2J  story    3  story    3£  story       Total 

1 

7 

7 

14 

Brick   Tot. 

2 

5 

10 

36 

55 

4           9 

119 

3 

8 

6 

16 

14 

6           7 

57 

3 

4 

1 

9          20 

30 

5 

1 

1 

1 

6 

9 

6 

4 

11 

13 

23 

11          23 

85 

7 

1 

5 

7 

8 

3           4 

28 

1 

8 

8 

4 

9 

17 

12            7 

57 

1    (Concrete) 

9 

6 

1            1 

8 

10 

4 

7 

3 

6 

5          10 

35 

Totals 

31 

44 

92 

137 

57          81 

442 

37 


V 

Fire  Hazard 


One  of  the  few  safe  generalizations  about  Providence  is  that  it 
is  largely  a  city  of  wooden  structures.  In  the  residence  districts  frame 
construction,  except  for  the  most  expensive  houses,  is  so  predominant 
that  it  gives  a  character  to  the  whole  community.  That  this  material 
adds  to  the  fire  hazard  there  could  be  no  question  even  had  there 
been  no  conflagrations  in  Chelsea  and  Salem.  The  fire  underwriters, 
of  course,  are  awake  to  this  hazard,  and  are  exerting  themselves  to 
reduce  it.  Within  the  fire  limits  frame  construction  is  permitted  for 
only  a  short  list  of  buildings,  such  as  temporary  sheds  and  small  grain 
elevators.  Within  these  limits,  also,  incombustible  roof  coverings  are 
required  on  new  buildings  and  on  old  buildings  reroofed.  An  effort 
to  secure  an  extension  of  this  roofing  requirement  to  other  districts 
where  frame  dwellings  are  crowded  resulted  in  so  much  opposition 
that  it  was  given  up.  The  hazard  remains,  however,  and  the  under- 
writers, after  seeking  to  protect  themselves  by  raising  their  rates  in 
certain  of  these  congested  districts,  again  arousing  an  outcry  that 
caused  them  to  modify  this  plan,  are  now  making  a  house-to-house 
canvass  of  the  city  and  revising  their  rates  in  accordance  with  condi- 
tions affecting  individual  houses.  They  recognize  the  increased  haz- 
ard in  the  large  tenement  blocks  and  the  danger  from  shingle  roofs 
by  increasing  the  rate.  They  also  recognize  that  when  dwellings  are 
too  close  together  the  peril  is  greater,  so  if  two  dwellings  are  within 
five  feet  of  each  other  they  are  rated  as  if  they  were  one  house  con- 
taining the  combined  number  of  families. 

LESSONS  TAUGHT  BY  EXPERIENCE 

The  pressure  thus  exerted  may  be  expected  to  hasten  somewhat 
the  use  of  incombustible  materials  for  external  walls  and  roofs.  But 
so  long  as  the  interest  of  builder  and  buyer  is  centered  in  the  initial 
cost  of  a  dwelling  rather  than  in  its  cost  over  a  series  of  ten  or  twenty 
years,  more  substantial  construction  will  wait  upon  an  equalization 
of  the  cost  of  wood  and  other  building  materials.  Meanwhile  the 
community,  from  the  point  of  view  of  fire  hazard  alone,  should  main- 
tain the  present  standard  of  open  spaces  about  dwellings;  for  such 
open  spaces  not  only  serve  to  check  the  spread  ot  fire  from  one  build- 
ing to  another,  but  they  afford  the  firemen  needed  opportunity  to  fight 
the  flames. 

While  Providence  is  spared  such  a  lesson  as  neighboring  cities 
have  had,  its  builders  probably  will  continue  to  accept  their  risk,  for 
the  chance  of  mishap  to  each  seems  too  remote  to  warrant  much  un- 

38 


This  new  tenement  house,  which  stretches 
from  Albro  to  Messenger  Street,  has  forty 
windows  opening  on  a  three- foot  side  yard. 
Some  day  it  will  have  a  neighbor  as  big  as 
itself.  Then  its  windows  will  be  darkened. 


An  old  tenement  house  with  a  narrow  court 


ARE  YCU  3JC 

J§1c?ggLasl 

-  £ 

IK   KO   LAT.    *HES£   B^ILI-E-S    As:   C 
PA3T3   11AI    DC    A3   T.-~:    ?L£ii2? 


Map  Showing  Progress  of  Housing  Laws  in  Massachusetts 


FIRE  HAZARD 

easiness.  Statistics  mean  little  to  men  who  are  moved  only  by  what 
they  see,  and  these  form  the  great  majority.  Yet  statistics  prepare 
even  the  most  unimaginative  to  understand  the  meaning  of  a  lesson 
when  at  last  it  is  taught.  So  such  publicity  work  as  that  of  the  Na- 
tional Board  of  Fire  Underwriters  is  having  its  effect,  and  in  city  after 
city  is  not  only  causing  the  erection  of  a  constantly  increasing  propor- 
tion of  less  inflammable  buildings,  but  is  arousing  to  constructive  ac- 
tion those  who  have  a  broad  view  of  the  community's  interests. 

One  of  the  most  significant  illustrations  of  this  is  the  report  made 
a  few  years  ago  by  the  Committee  on  Fire  Prevention  of  the  Bos- 
ton Chamber  of  Commerce.  This  committee  made  a  thorough  study 
of  the  subject  and  presented  facts  and  recommendations  of  practical 
interest  to  other  cities  where  frame  construction  is  common.  It  studied 
not  only  the  fire  hazard,  but  questions  of  cost,  maintenance  and  de- 
preciation as  well.*  Among  its  recommendations  were: 

The  enactment  of  city  ordinances  which  shall  prohibit  the  con- 
struction of  any  third-class  building  within  the  city  limits. 

The  enactment  of  a  law  prohibiting  the  construction  of  any  but 
fireproof  buildings  within  the  congested  business  district  of  the  city. 

Though  Providence  shares  with  Boston  the  advantage  of  being 
one  of  the  two  cities  in  New  England  rated  as  first  class,  the  adoption 
by  it  of  the  first  of  these  recommendations  would  be  too  severe,  since, 
unlike  Boston,  it  has  within  its  limits  large  areas  adapted  to  the  erec- 
tion of  widely  spaced  one  and  two-family  houses.  But  there  are 
other  large  areas  in  the  city  where  such  a  prohibition  would  prove  a 
measure  of  economy.  Divided  as  these  areas  now  are  among  a  mul- 
titude of  owners,  the  chance  of  loss  to  the  individual  is  so  small  that 
each  believes  he  can  afford  to  run  it;  but  if  they  were  all  owned  by 
one  individual  or  by  a  corporation  with  the  foresight  that  our  large 
corporations  are  developing,  the  feeling  would  be  quite  different. 
The  insurance  companies  and  the  city  as  a  whole  stand  in  a  position 
analagous  to  that  of  such  a  corporation.  The  many  scattered  small 
losses  are  a  constant  drain  upon  them,  while  there  is  ever  present  the 
danger  of  a  conflagration. 

OTHER    CITIES   SAFEGUARD   THEMSELVES 

It  was  reasoning  similar  to  this  that  led  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  and 
Brookline,  Mass.,  to  adopt  ordinances  prohibiting  the  erection  of 
frame  three-deckers.  Brookline  is  one  of  more  than  thirty-six** 
Massachusetts  towns  and  cities  which  have  now  protected  themselves 
in  this  way.  Its  action  is  noteworthy  because  it  lies  in  the  midst  of  an 
area  that  had  not  yet  taken  similar  action  and  because  its  Town  Im- 
provement Committee,  in  urging  prohibition  of  wooden  three-deckers, 
presented  a  printed  statement  of  facts  and  conclusions  that  are  of 

*See  Part  VIII,  Building  and  Management. 
**  Full  number  not  available.     See  accompanying  map. 

39 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

value  elsewhere.  This  statement  calls  attention  not  only  to  the  in- 
creased risk  due  to  wooden  buildings,  but  also  to  the  increased  ex- 
pense for  insurance,  fire  apparatus,  hydrants  and  water  supply. 
Providence  has  taken  a  short  step  in  this  direction  by  requiring  brick 
side  walls  on  closely  placed  frame  buildings. 

Next  to  kind  of  construction  and  to  land  occupancy  (discussed 
in  Part  III)  the  most  important  element  in  housing,  from  the  fire  haz- 
ard point  of  view,  is  the  height  of  the  dwellings.  Here  once  more  the 
steady,  regular  growth  of  the  city  has  favored  it,  for,  as  indicated 
by  the  following  table,  the  great  majority  of  dwellings  are  of  three 
stories  or  less. 


NUMBER  OF  STORIES  PER  HOUSE   BY  DISTRICTS 

Dist.  1  Dist.  2  Dist.  3      Dist.  4      Dist.  5    Dist.  6  Totls. 

Stories  A         B         A         B         C 

1  0000001113 
1A*  92202  8  14  17  13          67 

2  110403  9  6  6          30 
2A             28      44       17         7        4          56          76          32          60        324 

3  4        6       16      28      25  6  14          29  II         139 
3A             10        4         1         7        3          24            6            4  9          68 

4  11402  1  1  1  0          11 
4A               10000            0            0            0  1  2 

Total  54      58      40      46      36          98         121  90         101         644 

*  I A  means  one  story  and  attic,  etc. 

But  during  the  past  few  years  a  change  has  begun.  Higher 
tenements  are  being  erected  and  old  dwellings  are  being  altered  so  as 
to  increase  their  height.  Even  when  alterations  are  not  made  attics  are 
more  frequently  used  as  bedrooms  instead  of  for  storage.  The  tables 
on  another  page  indicate  how  inadequate  is  the  means  of  egress  from 
these  top  floors.  This  inadequacy  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  attic  stairs  are  winders,  breakneck  affairs  that  greatly  increase 
the  hazard  for  people  seeking  to  escape  in  the  panic  and  confusion  of 
a  night  alarm. 

FIRE-ESCAPES 

Supplementary  to  stairs  are  the  fire-escapes  ordered  by  the  Build- 
ing Inspector.  His  department,  some  four  years  ago,  following  the 
1912  report  of  the  National  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters,  made  a 
survey  of  the  city  and  required  that  many  buildings  be  equipped  with 
these  means  of  egress.  But  even  this  action  has  failed  to  provide  for 
the  safety  of  occupants  of  attic  bedrooms.  Fire-escapes  are  at  best 
but  a  confession  of  failure  to  build  properly.  They  are  ugly  and  ex- 
pensive; only  with  difficulty  are  they  kept  in  good  condition  and  un- 
obstructed. And  even  then  they  do  not  adequately  fulfill  their  pur- 
pose, for  flames  or  smoke  from  a  lower  window  effectively  close  them 
to  people  from  above.  But  where  other  and  better  means  of  egress 

40 


FIRE  HAZARD 

are  lacking,  they  are  necessary.  In  the  variety  of  its  fire-escapes 
Providence  has  shown  in  a  most  entertaining  way  the  individuality  of 
its  people.  They  are  of  iron,  and  so  far  as  our  inspections  went  they 
are,  with  a  few  exceptions, — always  excepting  attic  bedrooms, — ade- 
quate. But  there  is  among  them  a  variety  that  baffles  any  attempt 
at  brief  description.  In  the  six  districts  studied  intensively  we  found: 

Dist.  1  Dist.  2  Dist.  3      Dist.  4    Dist.  5    Dist.  6  Totla. 

Number  of    |  A        B        A        B        C 
Fire-Escapes)  1          0161111  2  0  21  6  68 


4! 


VI 

Standards  of  Living 


If  they  followed  their  inclination  the  great  majority  of  people 
would  probably  live  in  family  groups  and  would  choose  for  their 
group  a  dwelling  separate  from  that  of  others,  surrounded  by  a  gar- 
den, spacious  enough  within  and  so  arranged  as  to  permit  privacy  for 
the  individual,  and  equipped  with  those  so-called  conveniences,  really 
necessities,  that  make  for  decency,  cleanliness  and  order.  Of  course, 
there  are  some  to  whom  such  a  dwelling  does  not  appeal,  some  who 
have  no  liking  for  family  life,  who  feel  no  craving  for  open  spaces 
or  growing  things.  There  are  others  who  apparently  care  little  for 
privacy  and  have  small  regard  for  cleanliness  and  order. 

If  the  first  group  were  not  a  minority  the  world  would  end  and 
our  concern  for  the  future  end  with  it.  Even  if  that  part  of  the  first 
group  whose  lack  is  only  of  appreciation  for  open  spaces  were  not  a 
minority  the  world  would  suffer  through  its  children.  As  for  the  sec- 
ond group,  its  lack  is  mostly  seeming.  Like  children,  its  members  may 
fail  to  understand  the  value  of  privacy  and  cleanliness  until  these  hab- 
its have  been  taught  and  retaught.  But  once  learned,  the  habits  re- 
main unless  changed  by  pressure  of  environment.  The  congenitally 
filthy  and  promiscuous  are  as  rare  as  the  hermits. 

If  any  among  our  alien  peoples  seem  now  to  violate  this  rule  we 
may  be  confident  that  it  is  merely  because  in  the  lands  of  their  origin 
there  was  no  opportunity  for  the  maintenance  of  good  standards. 
And  if  they  fail  immediately  to  embrace  what  we  consider  American 
standards,  we  must  take  into  account  not  only  that  it  is  more  difficult 
to  train  adults  than  it  is  to  train  children,  that  it  is  more  difficult  to 
train  a  group  than  to  train  an  individual,  but  that  the  environment 
into  which  they  come  is  often  such  as  to  discourage  the  learning  of 
better  habits. 

Providence  furnishes  illustration  of  the  desire  of  people  to  live 
in  ways  which  age-long  experience  has  taught  is  wholesome.  If  the 
desire  is  not  fulfilled  the  reasons  should  be  sought  by  a  community 
which  takes  thought  for  its  future.  Despite  the  constantly  increasing 
proportion  of  families  who  are  housed  in  multiple  dwellings,  the  de- 
mand for  single-family  houses  exceeds  the  supply.  What  is  the  rea- 
son? Despite  an  evident  desire  for  space,  land  is  being  filled.  De- 
spite a  pride  in  family  privacy,  lodgers  are  being  taken.  Despite  de- 
sire for  cleanliness,  many  families  live  in  dirty  surroundings. 

This  desire  for  the  better  way  is,  of  course,  not  universal.  There 
are  many  who  have  not  known  anything  better  than  they  now  have, 
and  being  without  ambition  or  initiative,  accept  what  they  find.  There 

42 


STANDARDS  OF  LIVING 

are  others  naturally  slatternly  and  lazy.  But  in  every  neighborhood 
there  are  many  who  would  live  better  if  they  could.  Giving  them  the 
opportunity  will  greatly  hasten  progress.  So  it  is  of  practical  value 
to  learn  how  much  of  present  depressing  environment  can  be  changed 
by  community  action  so  as  to  release  and  stimulate  the  desire  for  im- 
provement. Even  more  important  is  it  to  learn  if  and  how  the  present 
environment  is  becoming  more  depressing,  making  more  hopeless  the 
efforts  of  those  who  aspire  to  a  better  standard  of  living. 

ACCEPTANCE  OF  LOWER  STANDARDS 

An  American  family  moving  to  a  new  city  will  often  accept  a 
dwelling  place  considerably  below  the  standard  to  which  it  has  been 
accustomed,  especially  if  that  dwelling  is  comparatively  inexpensive, 
until  it  has  a  chance  to  "look  around."  If  this  family  proposes  to 
make  only  a  short  stay  in  the  new  city,  or  if  its  plans  for  the  future 
are  uncertain,  it  will  put  up  with  cramped  and  uncomfortable  quarters 
which  otherwise  it  would  not  consider.  Such  families  as  these  create 
a  "demand"  that  is  not  negligible.  Their  frequent  removals  are  a 
cause  of  profit  tc  brokers.  Consequently  they  are  catered  to.  Joined 
by  local  families  who  for  various  reasons  wish  to  rid  themselves  of 
household  responsibilities,  they  are  seriously  affecting  the  character  of 
the  housing  in  the  best  residence  districts.  That  this  "demand"  is  in 
large  degree  legitimate  makes  the  problem  the  more  difficult ;  for  while 
a  family  may  be  content,  temporarily,  to  accept  inferior  accommoda- 
tion, that  which  is  temporary  for  it  is  permanent  for  the  city.  For  this 
reason  it  is  essential  for  the  city  to  set  definite  minimum  standards  for 
its  apartment  houses  if  it  does  not  wish  to  see  a  progression  with  con- 
stantly smaller  apartments,  with  constantly  smaller  open  spaces  for 
light  and  air. 

Already  Providence  has  apartment  houses  which  it  would  be 
sorry  to  see  duplicated  and  whose  erection  in  large  numbers  it  would 
view  with  dismay.  Yet  that  is  what  Providence  will  see  unless  it  pre- 
vents. That  it  has  taken  several  years  to  establish  the  few  apartment 
houses  now  in  existence  is  no  cause  for  comfort.  Innovations,  good 
or  bad,  gain  a  foothold  but  slowly,  especially  in  an  old  and  well-es- 
tablished community.  But  once  they  have  secured  their  foothold, 
once  they  have  been  accepted,  they  have  a  way  of  spreading  almost 
over  night.  Providence  will  have  many  more  apartment  houses  unless 
it  develops  a  type  of  dwelling  which  combines  apartment  house  con- 
veniences with  the  social  advantages  of  the  private  dwelling.  Now  is 
the  time  for  it  to  determine  what  those  apartment  houses  must  provide 
in  the  way  of  light,  air,  privacy,  sanitation  and  protection  against  fire. 

THE  IMMIGRANTS'  REACTION 

If  American  families  will  accept  lower  standards  of  living  upon 
moving  to  a  new  city,  there  is  no  occasion  for  surprise  if  immigrants 

43 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

from  foreign  countries  will,  upon  their  arrival,  accept  the  worst  that  is 
offered  them.  Living  here  is  more  expensive  than  it  was  in  the  old 
land ;  the  remnant  of  their  savings  after  paying  for  passage  is  pitifully 
small.  Yet  it  must  be  made  to  last  until  they  are  established.  So 
they  incline  to  take  the  cheapest  dwelling  they  can  get  and  to  under- 
bid the  present  holders  of  jobs.  As  with  the  American  family  which 
takes  temporary  quarters  while  "looking  around,"  the  makeshift  resi- 
dence is  often  occupied  far  longer  than  was  first  intended.  And  the 
constant  stream  of  arrivals  soon  makes  what,  had  it  been  confined  to 
one  family,  or  a  few,  would  be  a  matter  of  small  concern,  one  of  very 
great  concern.  For  it  sets  a  new  and  lower  standard  of  living  for 
whole  groups,  and  by  making  this  lower  standard  general  and  fa- 
miliar, causes  it  to  seem  normal  and  proper. 

Such  an  acceptance  of  lower  standards  is  now  going  on  in  Provi- 
dence at  a  rate  which  should  cause  concern.  The  crowding  of  families 
together  in  multiple  dwellings  has,  among  some  nationalities,  passed 
the  stage  of  temporary  expediency  and  become  a  matter  of  habit.  The 
most  successful  among  the  Italians  on  Federal  Hill,  of  the  Jews  along 
Chalkstone  Avenue,  will  move  into  other  districts,  where  they  will 
live  as  Americans  live.  They  will  send  their  children  to  the  high 
schools  and  the  university,  and  these  children  may  become  thoroughly 
Americanized.  But  they  are  the  exceptions.  The  mass  of  their  peo- 
ple will  continue  in  the  way  they  are  now  going.  The  districts  in 
which  they  live  will  become  more  and  more  compact.  Nothing  short 
of  demolition  by  the  public  authorities  and  at  public  expense  will  ever 
lessen  the  burden  on  the  land.  Not  even  a  conflagration  will  help, 
for  the  foundations  remain.  Whatever  change  there  has  been  in  the 
burned  districts  of  Salem  and  San  Francisco  has  been  in  the  direction 
of  greater  crowding. 

ROOM  OVERCROWDING 

Equally  serious  in  its  present  results  and  in  its  effects  upon  char- 
acter is  the  room  overcrowding  which  annually  became  greater  until 
the  European  war  lessened  the  number  of  immigrants,  except  those 
from  Portugal,  which  now  is  sending  an  unusual  number  of  women, 
children  and  men  beyond  military  age.  Whether  Providence  has  as 
much  of  a  lodger  problem  as  other  cities  we  are  not  sure,  as  our  in- 
spections were  made  during  months  (May  to  August)  when  construc- 
tion and  similar  gangs  of  unattached  men  are  out  of  the  city.  But 
here,  as  elsewhere,  those  longer  in  the  country  take  in  newly  arrived 
friends  and  relatives.  Still  room  overcrowding  apparently  has  not  yet 
become  so  serious  as  it  has  in  many  other  places,  and  Providence  has 
opportunity  to  maintain  fairly  good  standards. 

THE  DANGER  INCREASING 

The  types  of  dwellings,  one,  two  and  three-family  detached 
houses,  has  kept  the  size  of  apartments,  both  as  to  number  of  rooms 

44 


STANDARDS  OF  LIVING 

and  area  of  rooms,  fairly  adequate.  There  was  little  saving  to  be 
made  by  cutting  out  one  or  two  rooms  per  dwelling  or  by  shrinking 
their  size.  So  the  prevailing  apartment  or  dwelling  has  four  or  five 
rooms  and  often  one  or  two  attic  rooms  added.  These  attic  rooms 
we  found  frequently  unusued,  or  used  only  for  storage,  though  there  is 
an  increasing  tendency  to  use  them  for  bedrooms.  Cellar  dwellings, 
a  serious  menace  in  some  cities,  are  infrequent.  But  with  the  coming 
of  the  large  tenement  house  containing  several  families  on  a  floor,  as 
with  the  apartment  house,  the  old  safeguards  are  down.  Now  the 
owner  can  figure  a  profit  by  skimping,  for  smaller  rooms  make  possible 
more  rooms,  and  fewer  rooms  per  apartment  make  possible  more  apart- 
ments. Attics  have  no  place  in  these  large  buildings,  but  basements 
and  finished  cellars  have,  and  with  them  comes  the  temptation  to  use 
them  for  living-rooms.  So  Providence  must  act  now  if  it  does  not 
wish  to  see  present  standards  gradually  lowered.  Its  present  legal 
minimum  is  somewhat  less  than  New  York's. 

DARK  AND  GLOOMY  ROOMS 

More  pronounced  than  the  tendency  to  diminish  the  size  of 
apartments  is  that  to  render  them  less  habitable  by  shutting  out  light 
and  air.  Providence  still  has  enough  dwellings,  so  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  rent  a  gloomy  room,  and  in  several  instances  we  found  apartments 
where  one  room  was  not  used  because  it  had  inadequate  light.  But 
with  the  crowding  of  buildings  closer  together,  and  with  the  increase 
of  large  tenement  blocks,  the  number  of  dark  and  gloomy  rooms  is 
increasing.  Already  in  the  Atwells  Avenue  district  and  in  that  near 
Ship  and  Elm  streets  the  people  are  beginning  to  accept  such 
rooms.  One  tenement  house  on  Lily  Street  was  the  scene  of  a  fire  in 
the  spring.  The  flames  went  up  an  airshaft  upon  which  open  water- 
closets  and  bedrooms,  some  of  the  latter  getting  their  only  air  from 
this  shaft — it  has  no  light  to  give.  From  the  shaft  the  flames  spread 
to  the  adjoining  rooms,  completely  destroying  their  furnishings.  In 
the  Ship  and  Elm  street  district  old  houses,  some  built  with  dark  mid- 
dle rooms,  some  shut  in  by  new  buildings,  are  occupied  by  a  mixed 
population  that  does  not  demand  good  surroundings. 

But,  as  the  tables  show,  it  is  not  only  in  the  most  crowded  Ital- 
ian district,  nor  in  that  which  is  most  forlorn,  that  inadequately  lighted 
rooms  are  found.  The  present  building  code  permits  the  lighting  and 
ventilating  of  tenement  and  apartment  house  water-closets,  bathrooms 
and  storerooms  by  means  of  "vent"  shafts.  It  requires  for  other 
rooms  only  that  their  windows  shall  open  to  the  "external  air,"  then 
stipulates  that  these  windows  shall  be  not  less  than  three  feet  from  an 
adjoining  lot  line  or  nearer  than  ten  feet  from  any  other  building  on 
the  same  premises,  then  permits  outside  fire-escapes  or  unenclosed 
stairs  projecting  not  more  than  four  feet  to  occupy  this  narrow  space. 
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46 


STANDARDS  OF  LIVING 

open  on  courts  that  pinch  the  law,  and  in  these  courts,  themselves  inad- 
equate, are  fire-escapes  and  stairways. 

So  far  the  tenants  have  not  suffered  to  the  full  from  this  laxity, 
for  in  most  cases  courts  face  open  spaces  on  neighboring  lots.  When 
the  neighboring  lots  are  filled  the  rooms  opening  upon  the  courts  will 
become  gloomy  caverns.  And  this  in  a  city  which  has  ample  oppor- 
tunity to  spread  out  so  that  all  its  people  may  have  air  and  sun. 

LODGING  HOUSES 

Our  investigation  disclosed  a  surprisingly  small  number  of  men 
lodgers  in  families  except  in  the  Fox  Point  district.  If  this  was  not 
due  to  their  temporary  absence  on  out-of-town  construction  work,  it 
may  be  that  from  those  immigrant  peoples,  who  usually  eke  out  their 
income  in  this  way,  Providence  has  drawn  a  remarkably  small  pro- 
portion of  unattached  men.  But  from  other  peoples  who  leave  their 
women  at  home  it  has  drawn  considerable  numbers  of  single  men. 
The  Bravas  or  black  Portuguese  often  form  groups  or  clubs  which 
rent  a  house,  pay  one  of  their  number  to  be  housekeeper,  and  share 
the  rooms.  Or  they  rent  a  bed,  or  half  a  bed,  from  some  landlord 
who  keeps,  or  vainly  tries  to  keep,  the  premises  in  order.  Armenians, 
Turks  and  Poles  have  similar  lodging  houses  scattered  through  the 
older  parts  of  the  city.  The  Jews  have  several  lodging  houses  kept 
by  man  and  wife. 

The  Brava  houses  are  described  in  some  detail  later.  The 
others  visited  offer  little  for  criticism.  Most  of  them  were  bare  and 
comfortless,  but  they  were  fairly  clean  and  apparently  not  greatly 
overcrowded.  The  type  of  house  prevents  the  development  in  them 
of  the  worst  conditions,  for  nearly  all  are  small  detached  buildings 
with  abundant  light  and  air.  Some  have  cellars,  but  these  are  not 
occupied  for  living  purposes.  All  are  supplied  with  water,  though 
bathing  facilities  are  usually  limited  to  a  faucet  over  a  sink  or  basin. 
The  toilets  vary  from  a  good  indoor  closet,  to  unlighted,  vent-pipe 
ventilated  spaces  in  the  best  Jewish  and  Turkish  houses,  and  to  an  in- 
accessible privy  back  of  an  Armenian  house. 

None  of  these  places  come  under  the  Providence  definition  of  a 
lodging  house,  as  their  tenants  are  lodged  for  more  than  a  week  at  a 
time.  In  fact,  there  are  only  four  lodging  houses  in  the  city,  according 
to  the  definition  and  the  ruling  of  the  city  authorities.  These  four  are 
licensed  and  inspected  by  the  Building  Inspector  for  fire  egress,  by 
the  Health  Department  for  toilets  and  ventilation,  and  by  the  police. 

Though  such  groups  of  men  as  those  described  are  of  nowhere 
near  the  importance  to  the  community  as  are  family  groups,  yet  their 
dwellings  should  be  under  some  supervision.  If  they  could  be  con- 
sidered without  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  community  they  might  be  dis- 
missed with  little  concern,  but  not  only  in  their  work,  in  their  social 
life  as  well,  they  mingle  with  others.  And  even  in  their  houses  they 
affect  more  or  less  directly  neighboring  family  groups. 

47 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

ROOMING  HOUSES 

Also  aside  from  the  main  purpose  of  the  investigation  are  the 
furnished-room  houses,  of  which  there  are  a  great  number  in  the  dis- 
trict between  Weybosset  Street  and  Hayward  Park.  Here  old  two 
and  three-family  houses  have  been  cut  up  into  small  apartments  of 
one,  two  and  three  rooms,  which  are  rented  in  every  possible  combina- 
tion and  for  any  length  of  time,  from  one  night  up.  This  is  a  typical 
"blighted"  district,  existing,  as  many  of  its  inhabitants  do,  on  suffer- 
ance and  from  day  to  day,  always  hoping  that  something  will  turn 
up.  The  something  for  which  the  district  is  waiting  is  an  extension 
of  the  business  area.  Meanwhile  it  gets  along  as  it  can,  a  tax  upon 
the  social  agencies  of  the  city.  This  district  merges  into  that  about 
Ship  and  Elm  streets. 

WATER  SUPPLY 

Irrespective  of  the  use  to  which  houses  are  put,  whether  family 
dwellings,  lodging  houses  or  rooming  houses,  there  are  certain  services 
which  should  be  supplied, — water,  toilets  and  waste  collection.  The 
first  of  these,  which  often  calls  for  long  description,  may,  in  the  case 
of  Providence,  be  dismissed  in  a  paragraph.  Providence  supplies 
practically  every  dwelling  with  city  water.  The  carrying  of  water 
in  pails  for  long  distances  and  up  steep  flights  of  stairs  is  here  an  un- 
known drudgery.  There  is  still  room  for  improvement  as  regards  the 
number  of  faucets  in  a  dwelling,  but  this  is  something  that  may  be  left 
for  the  present  to  the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  while  attention  is 
concentrated  upon  more  vital  needs.  With  water  inside  every  tene- 
ment the  addition  of  a  bathtub  will  follow,  especially  where  a  water- 
closet  is  required  within  every  apartment.  Already  the  tubless  area 
is  shrinking  rapidly. 

PRIVIES,  CESSPOOLS  AND  PRIVATE  SEWERS 

Far  more  important  in  Providence  is  the  problem  of  a  proper 
supply  of  water-closets.  Largely  because  of  the  number  of  unac- 
cepted streets,  there  are  considerable  areas,  even  in  densely  populated 
districts,  where  the  privy  is  the  only  facility  provided.  A  census  just 
completed  by  the  Health  Department  shows  1 ,807  privies  in  the  city. 
In  other  districts  there  are  cesspools  to  which  the  city  authorities  pay 
no  attention  unless  they  become  such  nuisances  that  complaints  are 
made  by  neighbors.  Some  districts  are  served  only  by  private  sewers, 
of  which  the  inspectors  see  only  the  two  ends, — the  fixtures  in  the 
house  and  the  connection  with  a  public  sewer.  How  large  they  are, 
whether  properly  constructed,  no  one  knows.  In  fact,  the  records  of 
their  existence  are  but  fragmentary.  A  large  tenement  house  super- 
sedes a  small  house,  a  new  house  is  erected  on  the  rear  of  a  lot  or  on 
an  adjoining  lot,  and  connected  with  the  old  private  sewer.  No  one 
knows  whether  this  old  sewer  is  still  sound  or  whether  it  is  discharging 

48 


STANDARDS  OF  LIVING 

a  considerable  part  of  its  contents  into  the  soil.  Probably  it  is  inade- 
quate, for  the  man  who  lays  a  private  sewer  seldom  makes  it  larger 
than  is  necessary  to  serve  his  immediate  purpose. 

Here  is  one  place  where  city  planning  should  be  of  practical 
value,  determining  not  only  where  and  how  new  streets  shall  run,  but 
the  probable  ultimate  density  of  population,  so  that  sewers,  as  well 
as  other  public  services,  may  be  adequate.*  The  initial  cost  of  a 
larger  pipe  is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  cost  of  tearing  up  streets 
and  laying  new  pipes.  Yet  this  latter  is  a  cost  which  the  city  now 
faces,  especially  in  some  of  the  more  crowded  districts  where  private 
sewers  now  obtain.  On  Albro  and  Messenger  streets,  where  the  toilets 
comply  with  all  regulations  and  where  they  are  kept  clean,  there  is  an 
odor  in  the  compartments  and  even  out  of  doors  which  indicates  that 
the  private  sewers  serving  the  closely  built  tenement  houses  are  not 
performing  their  function. 

A  map  prepared  for  the  committee  shows  the  extent  of  the  areas 
not  properly  sewered  and  those  districts  where  privies  are  numerous. 
It  is  the  basis  for  a  constructive  policy  whose  purpose  would  be  the 
provision  of  proper  and  adequate  sanitation.  This  policy  should  go 
further  than  the  installation  of  a  complete  sewer  system;  it  should  in- 
clude the  proper  removal  of  present  privies  and  cesspools.  No  record 
is  now  kept  of  the  latter,  and  when  they  are  abandoned  the  practice 
is  to  fill  them  with  ashes  and  garbage,  though  an  attempt  is  made  by 
the  authorities  to  have  them  cleaned  before  filling.  There  is  no  ordi- 
nance or  regulation  requiring  the  cleaning  of  either  cesspools  or  privy 
vaults,  nor  any  which  prevents  the  digging  of  new  ones  instead  of 
cleaning  out  the  old.  When  privies  are  replaced  by  water-closets 
no  order  is  issued  to  remove  the  old  structure.  In  one  case  we  found 
an  old  privy  in  use,  door  unlocked  and  easily  accessible  from  the 
street,  although  there  was  a  water-closet  for  each  family  within  the 
house.  This  was  probably  an  exceptional  case.  Yet  without  a 
vigorous  follow-up  campaign,  not  only  to  compel  connection  with  the 
sewer,  but  also  to  compel  the  removal  and  the  proper  disinfecting  and 
filling  of  the  old  vault,  the  purpose  aimed  at  will  be  only  partially 
achieved. 

OUTDOOR  WATER-CLOSETS 

In  another  way  this  purpose  is  only  partially  achieved  when  the 
substitute  for  the  privy  is  a  yard  water-closet.  Even  if  these  were 
not  subject  to  abuse  because  of  the  impossibility  of  holding  any  one 
responsible  for  their  condition,  even  if  they  were  not  liable  to  freeze 
in  the  winter,  despite  anti-freezing  fixtures,  they  are  still  as  inaccessible 
at  nisrht  and  in  bad  weather,  and  at  all  times  to  children,  the  old  and 
the  sick,  as  are  the  privies.  Our  investigation  did  not  disclose  a  very 
great  number  of  them  (see  table),  but  enough  to  warrant  calling  at- 


*  This  does  not  imply  that  existing  public  sewers  are  inadequate. 
49 


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Furlong  Court — ten  dwellings  and  a  stable.  The  plumber  has  just  taken  from 
the  drain  pipe  of  the  basement  water-closets  one  sock,  two  cans,  one  big  knuckle- 
bone and  a  few  minor  items. 


An  unaccepted  street  near  the  heart  of  the  City 


Cellar   water-closet    reached    by    dark    winding    stairs.      Flashlight    photograph 


Brava  Lodging  House  on  Wickenden  Street.  Attic  bedrooms  get  light 
and  air  through  skylights.  Row  of  water-closets  in  the  yard.  There  is  one 
interior  bedroom  without  windows. 


STANDARDS  OF  LIVING 


tention  to  their  inadequacy.     Perhaps  they  were  a  necessary  step  from 
the  privy  to  the  indoor  toilet. 


CELLAR  WATER-CLOSETS 

Much  more  menacing  are  the  cellar  water-closets.  Though 
they  share  and  then  add  to  all  the  disadvantages  of  the  outdoor  toilet, 
except  those  due  to  inclement  weather,  Providence  is  accepting  them 
in  large  numbers.  They  are  difficult  of  access,  often  to  be  reached 
only  by  dark  winding  stairs,  so  a  lamp  or  candle  must  be  carried. 
Sometimes  they  may  be  reached  only  by  outside  stairs.  These  diffi- 
culties lead  to  the  use  of  vessels  in  living-rooms  which  later  must  be 
carried  downstairs.  They  cause  children  to  learn  the  indecent  habit 
of  using  streets,  yards,  out-buildings  and  public  halls. 

But  in  addition  to  difficulty  of  access  they  are  often  in  themselves 
objectionable.  Though  less  likely  to  freeze  than  the  outdoor  closets, 
they  are  more  likely  to  be  filthy,  as  they  are  usually  poorly  lighted. 
Cellar  windows  are  small  and  not  readily  cleaned.  Many  cellar 
compartments  have  not  even  the  advantage  of  a  small,  dirty  window, 
but  are  put  in  a  dark  corner.  In  some  cases  one  compartment  has  a 
window,  that  next  to  it  none.  In  other  cases  two  compartments  share 
one  window.  Many  women  and  children  are  afraid  to  use  these  com- 
partments at  night. 

It  is  a  truism  that  filth  accumulates  in  dark  places.  Even  in 
houses  where  the  owner  lives  and  where,  consequently,  regard  for  his 
own  family  leads  him  to  try  to  keep  the  cellar  toilets  in  a  sanitary  con- 
dition, they  are  seldom  as  clean  as  they  should  be.  Filth  gathers  in 
the  dark  corners  behind  the  fixtures,  the  constant  emptying  of  slops 
saturates  the  woodwork  and  floor,  so  even  when  the  cellar  is  dry  the 
compartment  is  likely  to  be  damp.  When  the  owner  does  not  live  on 
the  premises  conditions  are  worse,  fixtures  rust,  the  flush  gets  out  of 
order,  floor  and  woodwork  rot.  In  one  cellar  compartment  two  large 
fungi  were  found  growing  from  under  the  platform. 

INDOOR  WATER-CLOSETS 

In  the  newer  dwellings  on  sewered  streets  closets  are  being 
placed  within  the  apartment.  In  new  tenement  (four  or  more  fami- 
lies) and  apartment  houses  this  is  required  by  law  except  for  one  and 
two-room  apartments.  But  in  older  buildings  there  are  a  consider- 
able number  of  hall  water-closets,  some  of  them  dark  and  poorly  venti- 
lated. It  is  in  the  older  buildings  that  the  greater  part  of  the  problem 
lies,  except  for  what  the  city  invites  by  its  failure  to  provide  sewers. 
Yet  compared  with  cities  that  have  closer  building  than  Providence 
its  problem  is  easy.  There  is  usually  space  within  each  apartment 
for  a  proper  water-closet.  In  the  few  exceptional  cases  there  is  ample 
space  on  the  lot  for  a  small  addition  to  the  house  in  which  the  fixtures 

51 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

could  be  installed.     All  that  is  necessary  is  a  demand  for  a  better 
standard. 

OUTBUILDINGS  AND  ANIMALS 

For  two  reasons  the  question  of  outbuildings  is  not  so  important 
in  Providence  as  it  is  in  many  other  cities:  first,  there  are  compara- 
tively few  of  them;  second,  most  of  the  yards  are  so  large  that  these 
buildings  can  be  and  usually  are  placed  at  such  a  distance  from  the 
dwelling  that  they  do  not  add  to  the  fire  hazard  or  darken  windows 
or  obstruct  means  of  egress. 

But  comparatively  few  as  the  outbuildings  are,  they  are  most 
difficult  to  tabulate.  Omitting  such  questions  as  whether  a  pigeon- 
cote  on  a  pole  should  be  included  and  whether  a  grocery  box  con- 
taining one  or  two  hens  is  a  henhouse,  there  are  some  which  are  really 
puzzling.  Is  an  old  privy  shelter  now  used  as  an  ashbin  to  be  classed 
as  an  outbuilding  or  as  an  ashbin?  When  a  barn  has  a  wagon  shed 
attached,  one  end  of  which  is  used  for  chickens,  the  barn  shared  by 
two  families,  the  chickens  owned  by  another,  how  shall  it  be  classi- 
fied? Is  an  outbuilding  set  across  a  lot  line,  with  two  doors  and  a 
solid  partition  inside,  to  be  counted  as  two  buildings  or  one?  Is  a 
yard  water-closet  with  four  compartments,  four  doors,  four  flush 
tanks,  four  bowls,  but  one  supply  pipe  and  one  drain,  placed  on  the 
corner  of  four  yards  which  are  fenced  off  and  serving  four  houses,  to 
be  called  one  shelter  or  four? 

However  interesting  these  questions  may  be  to  the  investigators, 
their  interest  here  is  to  illustrate  again  the  individuality,  the  lack  of 
rule,  that  distinguishes  Providence  housing,  and  to  picture  in  brief  the 
condition  of  some  Providence  back  yards.  But,  except  for  some  of 
the  stables,  the  outbuildings  are  small  menace.  Though  there  are  66 
swine  licenses  in  force,  permitting  their  holders  to  keep  1  1  1  swine,  we 
found  none  of  these  animals  in  the  six  inspection  districts,  though  we 
did  see  two  or  three  hogs  across  a  fence  on  a  vacant  lot.  Swine  and 
cows  are  a  nuisance  in  densely  populated  areas,  and  the  former  in  any 
considerable  number  are  a  nuisance  near  any  urban  dwellings.  But 
apparently  Providence  does  not  suffer  greatly  from  them.  Horse  sta- 
bles are  much  more  common,  and  some  of  those  we  found  were  not 
kept  in  satisfactory  condition.  Other  animals  and  fowl,  rabbits, 
chickens,  pigeons,  are  kept  even  in  the  districts  inspected,  but  not  in 
large  numbers. 

DISPOSAL  OF  WASTES 

At  the  beginning  of  our  study  we  proposed  to  record  all  gar- 
bage receptacles  and  state  whether  they  are  of  metal  or  wood,  tight- 
covered  and  adequate.  We  prepared  a  similar  classification  for  ashes 
to  show  whether  bins  or  cans  are  provided,  whether  they  are  of  brick, 
metal  or  wood,  and  in  what  condition  they  were  found.  But  Provi- 
dence individuality  upset  our  plans. 

52 


STANDARDS  OF  LIVING 

For  reasons  which  it  is  difficult  to  answer  so  long  as  Providence 
garbage  is  fed  to  swine,  the  Health  Department  favors  wooden  re- 
ceptacles. The  receptacles  in  use  include  some  metal  cans,  but  much 
more  numerous  are  kegs,  butter  firkins  and  boxes,  while  even  baskets 
are  not  neglected.  Generally  a  cover  of  some  kind  is  laid  across  the 
top  of  the  receptacle,  but  frequently  it  is  of  little  use  in  keeping  out 
flies  and  of  no  use  in  frustrating  prowling  rats,  cats  and  dogs. 

This  matter  of  receptacles  is  of  little  moment  now,  however, 
since  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  people  in  the  crowded  districts 
practically  dispense  with  any.  The  Bravas  of  Fox  Point  have  a 
happy-go-lucky  way  of  disposing  of  their  garbage  by  throwing  it 
from  door  or  window.  After  that  the  responsibility  is  the  landlord's. 
Some  tenants  in  other  districts  are  equally  easy  in  their  habits.  The 
result  is  yards  greasy  and  foul  with  decaying  animal  matter  that  at- 
tracts swarms  of  flies.  Much  more  common  is  the  habit  of  using  the 
ashbin  as  a  garbage  receptable.  In  one  instance  we  found  this  slov- 
enly habit  facilitated  by  means  of  a  chute  from  the  rear  porches  of 
the  tenements  to  the  garbage-ashbin. 

Were  these  ashbins  emptied  frequently  there  would  be  good  ar- 
guments in  favor  of  the  practice  of  mixing  garbage  with  ashes.  But 
the  Providence  tradition  is  to  hoard  one's  ashes.  In  the  better  private 
residences  a  whole  winter's  accumulation  is  often  kept  until  spring 
housecleaning,  special  brick  vaults  being  constructed  in  the  cellars  for 
the  purpose.  Few  of  the  poorer  people  can  afford  brick  vaults, 
though  we  did  find  one  great  brick  cavern  in  a  tenement  house 
yard,  a  veritable  paragon  of  ashbins,  with  sliding  covers  -and  shak- 
ers. The  owner  was  very  proud  of  it.  Usually,  however,  the  bin 
is  a  more  or  less  flimsy  structure  of  boards.  Though  we  found  few 
of  them  overflowing,  we  found  many  leaking.  And  others  we  found 
where  the  aim  of  the  tenant  had  been  poor.  Perhaps  it  was  discour- 
agement over  such  lack  of  skill  that  induced  some  landlords  to  dis- 
pense with  a  bin  entirely  and  permit  ashes,  mixed  with  garbage,  to 
be  piled  in  a  corner  of  the  yard. 


53 


VII 

Housekeeping 


What  shall  we  do  with  the  "dirty  neighbor"?  We  may  have 
a  good  law  to  control  housing;  the  Health  Department  may  have 
reached  the  ideal  when  clean-up  week  lasts  all  the  year  round,  and 
still  the  dirty  neighbor  remains  not  only  an  eyesore,  but  an  actual 
health  menace. 

And  what  shall  we  do  for  the  willing,  strong,  but  ineffectual 
immigrant  women  from  the  small  farm,  the  village,  or  the  poorer 
quarters  of  some  foreign  city,  ignorant  of  the  demands  of  healthful 
community  life  and  the  use  of  modern  conveniences?  We  have  seen 
her  in  our  kitchens,  and  her  performances  there  are  duplicated  in  a 
thousand  tenement  homes. 

A  great  many  of  the  unsanitary  conditions  of  our  large  cities 
come  from  these  two  classes  of  women,  the  one  shiftless,  the  other  ig- 
norant. They  can  balk  or  ruin,  with  a  day's  carelessness,  a  sanitary 
campaign  on  which  the  best  thought  of  city  officials,  housing  workers, 
and  health  officers  have  been  put  for  months.  What  shall  we  do  with 
the  dirty  neighbor  and  the  ignorant  mother? 

Practically  no  part  of  Providence  is  free  from  the  danger  of 
contagion  from  sources  that  might  be  eliminated.  Stables,  privy 
vaults,  rotting  garbage  and  fly  carriers  can  always  be  found  just 
round  the  corner,  Good  housekeeping,  municipal  and  individual,  will 
cure  many  of  the  evils,  but  it  must  be  taught  to  those  who  need  it. 
How  shall  we  do  it? 

First,  we  must  know  the  extent  of  the  problem,  and  the  means 
at  hand  to  deal  with  it.  Nine  out  of  ten  will  say  when  the  question 
is  first  asked,  But  that  is  the  work  of  the  Health  Department.  Is  it? 


THE  PORTUGUESE 

For  instance,  in  the  older  parts  of  Providence,  both  along  the 
water  front  and  near  the  mills  and  factories,  are  groups  of  old  houses 
which  should  be  scrapped,  but  which  still  bring  in  rents.  The  Health 
Department  has  spent  much  time  in  the  past  thirty  years  on  the  sani- 
tary control  of  these  houses,  from  which  no  one  but  the  owner  profits. 
But  it  would  take  a  small  army  of  inspectors  to  do  what  needs  to  be 
done,  and  the  taxpayers  will  not  stand  the  bills.  It  would  take  most 
of  the  time  of  one  inspector,  for  instance,  to  look  after  the  families 
who  live  in  one  group  of  houses  in  one  yard  on  Wickenden  Street. 
There  are  four  houses, — two  on  the  street,  two  on  the  rear  of  the 

54 


HOUSEKEEPING 

lot, — with  a  total  of  seventeen  families,  and  uncounted  men  living  in 
groups.  Three  of  the  houses  are  of  old-time  frame  construction,  the 
floors  decayed  from  years  of  scrubbing,  the  windows  small,  the  cellar 
damp.  The  fourth  is  a  new  brick  house,  with  six  families. 

There  is  a  cold-water  sink  in  every  tenement,  but  every  drop  of 
warm  water  must  be  heated  on  the  stove.  The  six  families  in  the 
brick  house  share  three  inside  water-closets.  The  other  eleven  fami- 
lies and  the  groups  of  men  share  four  compartments  in  the  yard. 

The  yard  is  on  a  hillside,  the  earth  beaten  hard  by  many  feet, 
but  slippery  and  puddled  when  it  rains.  At  the  rear  is  a  large  ash- 
bin,  and  kegs  for  garbage  are  provided.  There  is  not  one  attractive 
spot  in  houses  or  yard. 

The  owner  has  been  called  to  account  several  times  by  the 
Health  Department  for  the  insanitary  condition  of  his  premises. 
Here  is  his  side  of  the  story  as  he  told  it  to  the  inspectors  for  the 
housing  committee.  He  was  gentle,  courteous,  and  gave  an  im- 
pression of  sincerity  and  of  wanting  to  do  right. 

"I  built  the  new  brick  tenement  with  the  idea  that  I  would  live 
here  with  my  family  and  look  after  the  four  houses.  But  we  had  to 
move  on  account  of  the  children,  and  now  I  come  every  day  twice 
to  clean  up.  It  is  so  bad  that  I  can't  hire  anybody  to  do  it.  Most 
of  the  families  are  Bravas,  and  no  one  else  will  rent  where  they  are. 
They  aren't  so  dirty  in  their  houses,  but  they  want  the  landlord  to 
do  everything  outside,  and  they  are  worse  than  a  lot  of  children  to 
throw  things  about.  They  won't  even  walk  out  to  the  keg  with  their 
garbage,  but  throw  it  loose  out  of  the  window.  When  they  use  the 
toilets  they  never  flush  them.  I  have  to  sweep  the  yard,  and  wash 
the  toilets  with  a  hose,  twice  a  day." 

When  asked  why  he  didn't  keep  the  yard  toilets  locked  he  said : 
"I  have  tried.  First,  I  put  on  padlocks  and  gave  every  family  a  key, 
but  the  men  are  so  strong  they  walked  up  and  pulled  out  the  staples 
rather  than  go  get  the  key.  Then  I  paid  fifty  cents  for  spring  locks 
and  put  them  inside,  but  the  men  put  their  shoulders  against  the  doors 
and  broke  them  open,  tearing  the  locks  out  of  the  wood." 

Down  on  lower  Benefit  Street  an  intelligent,  socially  minded 
white  Portuguese  woman  has  been  made  housekeeper  for  two  tene- 
ment houses,  with  eight  families,  in  the  same  yard.  "God  sent  me 
no  children,  so  I  have  taken  a  little  girl  from  the  convent,  and  I  try 
to  look  after  all  the  children  in  the  two  houses  as  if  they  were  my 
own."  The  house  where  she  lives  is  as  clean  as  scrubbing  can  make 
it.  Even  the  two  windowless  cellar  water-closets  are  whitewashed 
and  odorless.  But  in  the  adjoining  house,  the  families,  in  spite  of 
her  watchful  care,  break  the  stairs  for  firewood,  cut  the  lead  pipes 
out  of  the  cellar  water-closets,  strew  garbage  and  ashes  in  the  yard, 
and  break  down  the  ashbin  for  firewood.  They  complained  loudly 
of  the  house  to  the  inspector,  but  denied  personal  responsibility  for 
dirt,  broken  windows  and  dilapidation.  Two  tenants  gave  as  reason 

55 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

for  the  incredible  confusion,  "We  are  just  a-goin'  to  move" — the 
stock  excuse  of  the  shiftless  and  dirty. 

Some  of  the  black  Portuguese  have  been  here  long  enough  to 
have  steady  work,  to  have  brought  their  wives  and  families,  and  to 
have  comfortably  furnished  homes.  But  the  stories  told  here  could 
be  duplicated  many  times  in  the  district.  The  nurses  have  difficulty 
in  making  the  mothers  understand  and  carry  out  instructions.  The 
physician  says  that  only  because  the  babies  are  breast  fed  is  the  mor- 
tality as  low  as  it  is.  The  women  do  not  seem  capable  of  learning 
English,  do  not  go  out  to  do  housework,  and  so  do  not  have  even  the 
training  which  many  immigrants  get  in  that  way.  Perhaps  more  than 
any  other  race  in  Providence,  the  Portuguese  need  to  be  taught. 

The  white  Portuguese  make  much  better  homes,  are  ambitious 
for  their  children,  and  make  good  citizens.  They  do  not  demand 
high  sanitary  standards,  and  seem  quite  content  to  do  without  the  con- 
veniences which  an  American  family  of  the  same  wage  standard 
would  demand. 

THE  ITALIANS 

Among  the  peasant  classes  of  the  Italians  the  problem  is  much 
the  same.  As  a  rule,  they  are  fairly  clean  in  their  own  rooms,  how- 
ever much  they  may  abuse  the  public  parts  of  a  house  and  strew  the 
yard  with  garbage.  But  after  one  has  admired  the  most  conspicuous 
thing  in  the  tenement,  the  high,  immaculate,  white  bed,  with  its  lace- 
trimmed  slips,  sheets,  and  bedspread,  and  commences  to  look  in  the 
darker  corners,  too  often  is  found  a  contrast.  It  is  not  lack  of  will- 
ingness, but  lack  of  thoroughness.  Italian  women  have  industry, 
often  poorly  applied,  but  reasoning  seems  to  be  beyond  them.  They 
see  no  connection  between  a  nursing-bottle  full  of  tea-colored  milk 
and  the  nervous  restlessness  of  the  baby.  They  see  no  reason  why 
they  should  walk  down  four  flights  of  stairs  with  a  heavy  garbage 
pail,  when  things  can  be  thrown  out  of  the  window,  and  some  one 
else  sweeps  up  the  yard.  Though  they  bring  it  down,  under  coercion 
from  the  landlord,  they  cannot  read  the  signs,  even  when  printed  in 
their  own  language,  telling  them  not  to  mix  swill  with  ashes.  And  if 
they  could,  where  are  they  to  put  the  swill  when  the  small  garbage 
keg  usually  provided  is  full? 

It  is  rare  that  even  the  better  class  Italian  women  learn  to  speak 
English  readily,  though  many  of  them  are  so  intelligent  that  they  can 
understand  most  of  what  is  said,  and  can  talk  if  not  frightened  nor 
embarrassed.  In  all  of  the  visits  made  during  inspection,  only  one 
woman  failed  to  be  courteous  and  interested  in  finding  out  what  was 
wanted,  and  she  only  because  she  did  not  understand.  The  Health 
Department  reports  that  it  has  little  difficulty  in  getting  the  Italians  to 
obey  instructions  when  given,  though  remembering  them  till  next  time 
is  different.  Is  it  not  probable  that  the  Italian  mother  would  respond 

56 


HOUSEKEEPING 

with  equal  readiness  to  lessons  in  housekeeping  and  the  common  re- 
sponsibilities of  life  in  tenement  houses? 


THE   POLES 

Among  the  Polish  people  housekeeping  has  several  factors  which 
do  not  appear  with  other  immigrants.  Many  of  the  mothers,  even 
those  with  small  children,  work  in  the  mills,  either  night  or  day.  If 
they  work  at  night,  all  of  the  family  housework,  cooking,  cleaning, 
washing  and  sometimes  sewing,  is  done  in  the  daytime,  after  a  few 
scant  hours  of  sleep.  If  they  work  in  the  daytime,  they  hurry  home 
at  noon,  hurry  to  get  dinner  for  the  family,  hurry  back  to  work,  and 
do  the  housework  early  in  the  morning  or  late  at  night.  With  either 
plan  they  are  overworked,  tired,  and  often  irritable  or  even  brutal  to 
the  children.  The  children  get  well  out  of  hand,  because  they  can 
play  truant  from  school,  run  the  streets,  or  play  without  control,  or, 
if  small,  they  are  left  with  a  neighbor,  or  locked  in  the  house.  The 
more  careful  mothers  have  learned  to  take  the  small  children  to  the 
day  nursery,  an  added  task  in  an  already  full  day. 

When  the  mother  does  not  work  in  the  mills,  some  families  sup- 
plement their  incomes  by  a  kind  of  boarders  peculiar  to  the  Poles. 
Sometimes  a  whole  family  boards  with  another  under  this  arrange- 
ment; sometimes  it  is  girl  or  men  "cousins";  sometimes  both  men  and 
women  make  up  the  group.  One  family  rents  a  tenement,  keeping 
usually  the  worst  room  for  their  own  bedroom.  The  others  are  let 
for  so  much  a  week,  with  a  breakfast  of  coffee,  and  sometimes  bread, 
included.  For  the  other  meals  the  boarders  purchase  their  own  sup- 
plies, which  they  either  cook  on  the  common  stove,  or  pay  a  small 
sum  to  have  cooked  for  them.  Occasionally,  in  addition  to  washing 
the  sheets,  the  mother  does  the  personal  wash  for  the  boarders.  Two, 
three,  or  even  four  families  or  groups,  will  share  one  common  kitchen. 
The  practice  is  at  its  worst  when  the  boarders  include  both  men  and 
girls.  It  is  a  cheap  way  of  living,  as  each  person  pays  only  from  $2 
to  $3  per  week.  The  only  sanitary  conveniences  are  the  kitchen  sink, 
with  cold-water  faucet,  and  usually  a  cellar  water-closet.  So  the 
decencies  of  life  are  apt  to  be  forgotten.  The  better  class  of  fami- 
lies will,  of  course,  not  tolerate  such  conditions.  In  a  number  of  tene- 
ments inspected  there  was  an  unfurnished  room.  In  these  cases  the 
family  said  that  they  would  rather  get  along  on  less  than  to  have 
lodgers. 

With  all  of  these  difficulties,  most  of  the  Polish  families  visited 
were  fairly  clean  and  seemed  to  take  pride  in  decent  surroundings. 
The  dirty  neighbor  is  not  confined  to  any  one  race.  The  nurses  from 
the  day  nursery  say  that  there  has  been  ?reat  improvement  in  the  fami- 
lies they  visit  in  the  past  five  years.  With  teaching  in  good  house- 
keeping and  the  necessity  of  sanitary  conveniences,  there  is  no  reason 

57 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

why  the  standards  of  the  lowest  families  should  not  be  raised  to  those 
of  the  best. 

THE  OTHER  NATIONALITIES 

Not  enough  French-Canadian  families  were  inspected  to  draw 
any  conclusions,  but  it  is  believed  from  those  seen  that  they  would 
profit  by  housekeeping  instruction.  They  are  thrifty,  great  bargain 
hunters,  and  would  appreciate  learning  the  number  of  rooms  and  the 
sanitary  conveniences  they  should  be  able  to  buy  with  their  rent  money. 

Other  nationalities — the  English,  Syrians,  Armenians,  Ger- 
mans, American  negroes — did  not  happen  to  live  in  any  numbers  in 
the  inspection  districts.  Providence  has  many  peoples  who  must  be 
made  into  Americans. 

And  so  the  answer  to  the  question,  "What  shall  we  do  with 
the  dirty  neighbor,  and  with  the  untaught  mother?"  is  "Lessons  in 
housekeeping  and  home-making."  We  are  doing  something  for  the 
children  in  the  schools  and  should  do  more.  But  also  we  must  reach 
the  mothers  at  home.  It  cannot  be  done  officially  nor  by  printed  in- 
stiuctions;  it  must  be  done  personally  and  by  word  of  mouth.  The 
district  nurses  have  proved  their  value  to  community  life,  though  the 
movement  is  not  a  generation  old.  Next  must  come  the  visiting  house- 
keeper, who  will  do  for  the  mother  in  her  home-making  what  the  nurse 
has  already  done  for  her  and  her  baby.  It  is  a  task  for  the  House- 
wive's  League,  for  the  Mothers'  Club,  for  the  settlements,  and  for  the 
various  women's  societies  of  the  churches.  It  is  a  problem  of  instruc- 
tion, not  of  relief  of  poverty.  We  must  Americanize  the  mothers, 
not  let  them  drop  behind  or  be  dictated  to  by  their  children  because 
of  their  lack  of  knowledge  of  a  strange  tongue  and  of  strange  customs. 


58 


VIII 

Building  and  Management 


Providence  is  a  city  built  house  by  house.  There  are  here  no 
large  operators  who  develop  big  tracts  by  building  scores  of  houses 
at  once.  Some  years  ago  a  man  came  from  New  York  to  teach 
Providence  the  way  to  do  this.  He  built  one  considerable  group  of 
three-deckers  and  then  left  town  hastily.  Among  other  things  he 
would  have  taught,  had  he  been  successful,  is  that  land  overcrowding 
pays.  He  was  so  economical  in  the  use  of  land  that  his  development 
immediately  attracts  attention.  The  occupants  of  the  houses  he 
erected  have  no  opportunity  to  get  lonely.  But  he  failed.  So  Provi- 
dence continues  to  build  house  by  house.  In  a  few  cases  two  houses 
are  built  at  once.  During  the  past  five  years  there  have  been  only 
thirteen  instances  of  three  houses,  nine  instances  of  four,  three  in- 
stances of  five,  and  four  instances  of  six,  built  as  one  operation. 

As  Providence  is  a  city  of  small  builders,  so  it  is  a  city  of  small 
buyers,  men  who  buy  one  house  and  live  in  it.  As  these  buyers  often 
are  men  of  limited  means  who  are  seeking  an  investment  as  well  as  a 
home,  their  influence  has  been  potent  in  causing  the  two-family  and 
three-family  house  to  become  so  prevalent.  To  some  of  the  immi- 
grant peoples  this  form  of  investment  appeals  strongly.  They  can 
see  and  touch  v/hat  their  money  buys.  They  are  sure  it  will  not  van- 
ish. And  the  tenants  from  whom  they  get  their  income  also  are 
tangible,  even  if  not  substantial.  Having  started  in  this  way,  some 
of  the  more  ambitious  and  capable  go  on,  add  other  houses  to  the  first, 
until  they  have  become  landlords  of  no  little  consequence. 

Apparently  Providence  is  building  up  a  new  landed  class  in 
place  of  the  old  American  landowners.  Ten  or  a  dozen  years  ago 
there  were  several  considerable  estates  of  this  kind  in  the  poorer  resi- 
dence districts.  Such  estates,  however,  require  constant  supervision, 
close  personal  touch.  This  is  irksome.  So  there  was  organized  for 
the  benefit  of  their  owners  a  sort  of  clearing-house.  This  organiza- 
tion published  a  magazine  in  which  they  advertised,  and  it  conducted 
an  investigation  bureau  which  looked  up  the  character  and  financial 
ability  of  prospective  tenants.  But  when  a  new  manager  took  hold 
he  found  that  the  business  was  running  at  a  loss.  So  he  raised  the 
dues.  Then  the  members  dropped  out,  until  to-day  scarcely  one  in- 
vestigation a  month  is  called  for.  During  this  decade  the  old  estates 
have  been  breaking  up,  the  houses  are  passing  into  the  hands  of  those 
who  live  in  them  and  who  can  give  them  personal  supervision. 


59 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

OWNERSHIP  WIDELY  SCATTERED 

So  with  the  old  estates  breaking  up  and  the  new  ones  forming, 
the  ownership  of  Providence  dwellings  at  present  is  widely  scattered. 
This  does  not  mean  that  Providence  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  city 
of  home  owners;  perhaps  it  is  not  as  much  such  a  city  as  it  was  ten 
or  twenty  years  ago,  for  only  one  family  in  a  two  or  three-family 
house  is  in  the  owner  class. 

The  owners,  usually  with  small  or  no  experience  when  they  buy, 
and  having  but  a  small  sum  to  invest,  are  likely  to  lay  most  stress 
upon  the  initial  cost.  Let  the  future  take  care  of  itself,  the  present  is 
all  they  can  swing,  even  with  aid  of  the  bank,  the  building  and  loan 
association  or  the  private  lender.  So  the  builder,  whose  livelihood 
lies  in  building,  meets  the  demands  of  his  customers. 

Probably  few  of  the  buyers  realize  what  poor  investments  they 
have  made,  but  believe  their  troubles  are  inherent  in  house-owning. 
And  probably  they  do  not  realize  the  extent  of  their  troubles,  for, 
like  the  small  farmer,  they  keep  no  accounts  and  do  not  charge  them- 
selves for  their  own  time  and  labor  or  that  of  their  families.  This  is 
what  makes  the  three-decker  possible.  Especially  among  the  Italians 
does  it  present  an  appearance  of  being  a  money  maker,  for  among 
them  the  whole  family  devotes  to  it  unpaid  labor,  though  not  more 
than  is  essential  to  secure  tenants.  The  father  does  the  odd  jobs  of 
repairing,  the  mother  papers  the  walls,  the  children  sweep  out  the 
rubbish. 

WHAT  TYPES  PAY  BEST 

Among  the  real-estate  men  with  whom  we  talked  there  was  una- 
nimity of  opinion  that  the  two-family  house  (one  family  above  the 
other)  is  the  best  investment.  Equally  unanimous  was  the  opinion 
that  the  frame  three-decker  is  a  poor  investment.  As  to  the  cottage 
and  the  apartment  house  or  large  tenement  house,  opinions  varied. 

THE  TWO-FAMILY  HOUSE 

The  favor  with  which  the  two-family  house  is  regarded  is  based 
upon  the  following  points: 

It  occupies  little  more  land  than  does  the  cottage. 

Its  foundations  and  roof  cost  little  more  than  those  of  the  cot- 
tage. 

Consequently  a  second  family  can  be  housed  with  a  compara- 
tively small  increase  in  the  investment. 

It  is  readily  built  so  as  to  give  each  family  nearly  as  complete 
privacy  as  it  would  enjoy  in  a  single-family  house.  Each  family  may 
have  its  own  entrance  doors,  its  own  cellar,  even  its  own  attic.  In  the 
Providence  type  of  two-family  house  the  yard  is  seldom  divided, 
though  it  may  be.  As  the  owner  frequently  occupies  one  of  the  apart- 
ments, he  both  desires  to  use  the  yard  himself  and  finds  it  less  trouble 

60 


BUILDING  AND  MANAGEMENT 

to  attend  to  grass  mowing  and  other  outside  work  than  to  persuade 
the  other  family,  which  has  not  the  same  pride  in  the  appearance  of 
the  place,  to  do  part  of  the  work.  In  fact,  when  the  owner  does  not 
live  in  the  house  trouble  often  develops.  One  landlord  who  owns 
several  of  these  houses  said  that  when  tenants  ask  him  who  is  to  take 
care  of  the  yard  he  always  replies,  "Fifty-fifty  and  up  to  you."  "As 
a  result,"  he  added,  "the  grass  around  some  of  my  houses  is  knee 
high,  but  that's  no  trouble  of  mine."  A  tenant  of  one  of  these  houses 
said  that  he  took  his  family  away  for  a  month  last  winter.  While 
gone  he  received  a  peppery  letter  from  his  co-tenant  who  informed 
him  that  it  was  his  duty  to  keep  his  furnace  going  whether  at  home  or 
not,  since  it  was  impossible  to  heat  one  apartment  when  the  other  was 
like  an  ice-chest. 

THE  THREE-DECKER 

So  there  are  complications  for  the  owner  of  a  two-flatter,  but 
they  are  multiplied  for  the  owner  of  a  three-decker.  So  long  as  the 
owner  of  the  three-decker  occupies  one  of  these  decks  himself  things 
may  go  fairly  smoothly,  though  we  met  tenants  who  object  to  having 
the  landlord  around  all  the  time.  But  apparently  two's  company, 
three's  a  crowd  in  a  house  as  well  as  in  other  places,  and  when  all 
three  are  tenants  of  an  absentee  landlord  trouble  is  likely  to  begin. 
The  commonest  form  seems  to  be  for  two  of  the  families  to  combine 
against  the  third.  Usually,  it  is  said,  the  first  and  second  floors  unite 
against  the  top,  for  the  top  pays  less  rent  and  so  is  not  in  quite  the 
same  class.  But  the  top  has  other  advantages  than  a  lighter  rent.  It 
has  a  floor  which  is  number  two's  ceiling,  and  things  dropped  on  that 
floor  at  selected  moments  may  prove  very  annoying  to  those  below. 
So  it  is  difficult  to  keep  all  three  decks  rented  at  once,  and  the  second 
deck  is  the  most  likely  to  be  vacant.  Such  at  least  is  the  story  of  one 
real-estate  man  who  manages  a  great  deal  of  rental  property. 

Here,  as  in  the  two-family  house,  the  common  use  of  or  re- 
sponsibility for  the  yard  is  a  cause  of  friction.  And  in  the  three-decker 
this  cause  is  increased  by  common  use  of  halls.  So  the  saving  in 
initial  cost  by  putting  three  families  on  one  lot,  over  one  foundation 
and  under  one  roof,  is  neutralized  by  more  vacancies.  Moreover,  the 
common  use  of  parts  6f  the  building  by  several  families  and  that  in- 
tangible something  in  the  attitude  of  a  family  toward  a  dwelling  which 
it  shares  with  several  others,  results  in  larger  repair  bills  and  more 
rapid  depreciation. 


THE  ONE-FAMILY  COTTAGE 

The  one-family  cottage  is  rated  a  poorer  investment  than  the 
two-family  house  for  two  reasons: 

The  initial  cost  of  land,  foundations  and  roof  is  nearly  as  great. 

61 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

If  a  tenant  moves  out  there  may  be  a  period  when  there  is  no  in- 
come at  all,  while  in  the  two-family  house  the  second  tenant's  rent  will 
pay  carrying  charges. 

Somewhat  neutralizing  the  first  account  is  the  experience  that  a 
family  which  has  a  house  to  itself  will  take  greater  pride  in  it,  will 
keep  it  in  better  condition,  and  so  reduce  repair  bills  and  deprecia- 
tion. We  asked  several  men  who  have  charge  of  rental  properties 
whether  the  second  account  might  not  be  balanced  by  building  two  or 
three  cottages  and  treating  them  as  a  single  investment.  All  said, 
meditatively,  that  it  might  be  so. 

APARTMENT  AND  TENEMENT   HOUSES 

As  for  the  large  tenements,  and  especially  those  of  the  higher  or 
apartment-house  grade,  the  attitude  of  the  real-estate  men  seemed  to 
be  one  of  optimism  based  upon  hope,  rather  than  experience.  Here 
the  saving  in  land  cost  is,  of  course,  considerable,  as  there  may  be 
from  six  to  a  dozen  families  on  a  lot  bought  at  the  price  considered 
right  for  a  single-family  house.  Here,  again,  comes  in  the  saving  in 
foundations  and  roof.  With  the  number  of  families  increased,  the 
union  of  two  against  one  becomes  impossible;  instead  there  begins  to 
appear  the  tendency,  so  noticeable  in  cities  where  large  multiple  dwell- 
ings are  common,  to  ignore  so  far  as  possible  one's  co-tenants.  With 
entrance  doors  off  the  same  hall  the  only  defense  for  one's  privacy  is 
not  to  know  one's  neighbors.  But  balancing  these  good  investment 
points  is  greater  cost  of  repairs,  greater  exactions  from  tenants,  more 
rapid  depreciation  not  only  from  use,  but  from  the  downward  ten- 
dency of  even  a  well-constructed  building's  reputation.  This  is  well 
illustrated  in  a  southern  city  where  an  investor  erected  in  a  good  neigh- 
borhood some  ten  years  ago  what  was  then  the  most  modern  of  apart- 
ment houses.  He  named  it  the  Margaret  Apartments.  Within  six 
years  it  was  known  as  the  "Maggie  Flats"  and  his  first  tenants  had 
already  moved  to  newer  and  more  modem  buildings. 

This  migratory  instinct  of  the  apartment  or  tenement-house 
dweller  is  one  of  the  factors  to  be  reckoned  on  in  considering  such 
buildings  from  the  investment  point  of  view.  It,  of  course,  has  its 
serious  social  side  as  well,  but  that  we  are  not  here  considering. 
More  pertinent  is  the  damage  done  to  floors  and  walls  every  time  one 
tenant's  furniture  goes  out  and  another's  comes  in.  Providence  real- 
estate  men  say  the  three-decker  dweller  is  migratory.  If  the  apart- 
ment and  tenement  house  become  common  they  will  add  a  new  word 
to  their  lexicon. 

THE  BEST  PAYERS 

But  probably  the  houses  that  pay  best  of  all  are  some  of  those 
old  dwellings  near  Fox  Point  inhabited  by  groups  of  Brava  men. 
Worth  so  little  that  they  can  scarcely  depreciate,  costing  little  for  re- 
pairs since  repairs  are  seldom  made,  they  bring  in  a  large  revenue  from 

62 


Row  houses  on   Benefit  Street 


New   Apartment  House,   Irving  Avenue 


New  tenement  house,  Arthur  and  Atwells  Avenues 


Rear  of  new  tenement  house  at  corner  of  Arthur  and  Atwells  Avenues. 
The  court  is  filled  with  porches,  darkening  the  rooms.  If  a  similar  building  is 
erected  next  door  the  rooms  will  get  almost  no  light. 


BUILDING  AND  MANAGEMENT 

their  many  inhabitants.  But  the  owners  who  get  large  returns  on  these 
investments  are  those  who  got  in  on  the  ground  floor,  inherited  the 
houses  or  bought  them  when  they  were  cheap.  The  builders  of  good 
new  houses  or  those  who  buy  old  houses  at  a  value  based  on  the  in- 
come cannot  hope  to  share  in  the  harvest. 

WHAT  IS  A  FAIR  RETURN? 

Apparently  a  fair  return  on  dwelling  house  property  in  Provi- 
dence is  approximately  the  same  as  it  is  in  other  cities,  five  or  six  per 
cent  net.  This,  of  course,  is  irrespective  of  such  speculative  factors 
as  a  considerable  rise  in  the  value  of  land.  But  this  five  or  six  per 
cent  is  really  earned,  if  it  is  earned,  that  is,  if  repairs  are  made  as 
needed  and  depreciation  written  off.  Much  more  can  sometimes  be 
taken  out  of  a  property  by  letting  it  run  down,  but  that  is  not  income, 
it  is  subtraction  from  principal.  To  get  five  or  six  per  cent  means  a 
knowledge  of  the  business,  plus  constant  and  careful  supervision. 

FINANCING 

Cost  of  building  at  present  is  abnormal,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
learn  what  it  was  before  prices  went  soaring.  Figures  taken  from  the 
Building  Inspector's  memoranda  during  the  years  1911,  1912  and 
1913  show  such  wide  variations  for  buildings  of  the  same  number  of 
families  that  they  form  no  basis.  Nor  is  there  any  data  showing  how 
much  these  buildings  have  deteriorated.  Probably,  however,  Provi- 
dence buildings  go  through  much  the  same  decline  as  those  of  Boston 
and  other  Massachusetts  cities  where  studies  have  been  made.  One, 
made  at  the  instance  of  the  Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce,*  based  on 
the  bids  of  five  contractors,  showed  that  the  cost  of  a  house  of  other 
than  frame  construction  would  be  increased  only  from  5.8  per  cent  for 
brick  veneer  on  studding  to  9. 1  per  cent  for  a  ten-inch  hollow  brick 
wall  and  to  1  3  per  cent  for  a  solid  twelve-inch  brick  wall.  Another 
study  showed  that  the  annual  charge-off,  with  interest  at  4  per  cent, 
and  the  annual  cost  for  repairs  and  painting,  for  a  frame  three-decker 
costing  $6,500  would  be  $628.40;  while  that  for  a  house  of  the 
same  size,  but  of  second-class  construction  and  costing  $7,500,  would 
be  only  $498.50. 

Last  year  Brookline**  became  interested  in  the  same  question. 
It  compared  its  wooden  three-deckers  with  brick  dwellings  erected  in 
Salem  and  at  Woodbourne  and  found  that  when  depreciation  is  fig- 
ured in  the  frame  three-decker  is  the  poorest  investment. 

Such  studies  as  these  have  not  stopped  the  building  of  frame 
tenement  houses  in  Massachusetts,  but  they  have  greatly  increased  the 


*  The  Prevention  of  Fire  in  Boston.     Report  of  the  Committee  on  Fire 
Prevention,  of  the   Boston  Chamber  of   Commerce,    1911. 

**  The  Wooden  Apartment  House  Question  in  Brookline. 

63 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

number  of  towns  in  which  such  construction  is  prohibited,  and  they 
have  made  the  banks  and  other  money  lenders  more  and  more  cautious 
about  putting  their  funds  into  such  investments. 

THE  QUESTION   BEFORE  PROVIDENCE 

In  one  if  not  both  of  these  ways  the  question  is  sure  to  come 
before  Providence  in  the  near  future.  The  banks,  co-operative  and 
other,  the  building  and  loan  associations,  the  estates  which  loan  on 
dwelling-house  property,  are  what  make  possible  the  present  types  of 
buildings.  A  representative  of  one  of  these  institutions  told  us  that 
he  had  never  thought  to  inquire  as  to  the  condition  of  a  building  af- 
ter his  loan  had  been  repaid.  It  is  from  these  institutions  that  Italians, 
Poles,  Portuguese  and  Jews  get  a  considerable  part  of  the  purchase- 
price  of  their  houses.  Consequently  they  can  exert  a  very  great  influ- 
ence, not  only  over  American  buyers  and  builders,  but  over  those  of 
the  alien  peoples  as  well.  They  have  a  responsibility  for  helping  to 
make  Providence  as  fine  a  city  as  it  can  be,  a  responsibility  to  those 
who  borrow  by  aiding  the  latter  to  make  good  investments,  and  also 
a  responsibility  to  their  own  stockholders  by  seeing  to  it  that  this  year's 
business  does  not  jeopardize  next  year's.  Should  they  not  encourage 
a  type  of  dwelling  that  will  lessen  the  hazard  of  conflagration  as  well 
as  protect  existing  values? 

It  is  a  commonplace  now  to  hear  wonder-tales  of  thrift  on  the 
part  of  some  of  the  immigrant  peoples.  A  man  buys  a  house  worth 
thousands  for  a  few  hundred  dollars  of  his  own.  The  rest  is  loaned 
him.  In  a  few  years  he  has  paid  off  the  debt  and  is  perhaps  buying 
another  house.  How  does  he  do  it?  Listen  to  the  story  of  how  he 
packs  the  house  with  tenants,  of  how  he  racks  the  property.  And 
when  he  builds  the  new  house,  does  he  reserve  adequate  open  spaces? 
Does  he  increase  the  fire  hazard  for  other  buildings  upon  which  there 
are  loans  ?  Does  his  operation  increase  or  decrease  the  tax  burdens  of 
the  community?  These  are  not  questions  to  be  answered  offhand. 
Those  who  loan  him  the  money  not  only  have  a  part  in  the  respon- 
sibility, but  they  help  to  pay  the  bills.  Their  interest  does  not  cease 
when  the  loan  is  returned. 

ARE  TENEMENT  RENTALS  LOWER? 

At  this  point  some  one  may  question  whether  land  overcrowding 
and  tall  tenements  are  not  necessary  if  dwellings  are  to  be  provided 
for  the  wage-earner  at  rents  within  his  means.  We  call  attention  to 
the  following  figures  taken  from  the  schedules  made  out  in  the  inspec- 
tion districts.  These  indicate  that  in  the  districts  where  land  is  most 
overcrowded,  where  there  is  the  greatest  number  of  families  per  house, 
rents  incline  to  be  higher,  not  lower,  than  in  the  other  districts.  There 
are  considerable  variations  in  the  rent  per  room  in  each  district,  for 

64 


BUILDING  AND  MANAGEMENT 

here,  again,  is  the  lack  of  uniformity  characteristic  of  Providence. 
This  variation  is  complicated  by  the  inclusion  of  attic  rooms  in  some 
apartments.  Such  apartments  have  been  omitted  in  the  figures  below, 
as  have  those  where  a  bathroom  or  some  other  extra  has  been  the  ap- 
parent occasion  for  a  higher  rent.  In  district  1  B  a  pantry  should 
be  added  to  the  number  of  rooms  given  in  many  instances.  But  even 
with  this  extra  the  rent  per  room  is  comparatively  low.  In  a  few  in- 
stances the  rent  of  front  and  rear  apartments  in  the  same  building  has 
been  included  as  a  matter  of  interest. 


DISTRICT  1  A,  NEAR  FOX 

POINT 

AVERAGE  3.15  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE 

No.  of 

Rooms                  Rent  per  Month 

Rent  per  Room 

20 

$43.00 

$2.15 

13 

35.00 

2.70 

4 

10.00 

2.50 

5 

12.00 

2.50 

5 

11.00 

2.20 

3 

7.00 

2.33 

3 

6.00 

2.00 

6 

9.00 

1.50 

3 

8.00 

2-66 

DISTRICT   1  B,  NEAR  INDIA  POINT 

AVERAGE  2.98  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE 

No.  of  Rooms                  Rent  per  Month  Rent  per  Room 

3                                    $5.00  $1.66 

5                                    8.00  1.66 

3                                      5.00  1 .83 

3  7.00  2.33 

4  7.00  1.75 

4  10.00  2-50 

3  8.00  2.66 

5  11.00  2.20 

4  9.00  2.25 

DISTRICT    2  A,    ATWELLS    AVENUE    AND    McAVOY    STREET 

NEIGHBORHOOD 

AVERAGE  3.57  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE 

No.  of  Rooms                  Rent  per  Month  Rent  per  Room 

4                                      $6.00  $1.50 

3  8.50  2-83 

4  10.00  2.50 

5  12.00  2.40 
4                                    11.00  2.75 
4                                    12.00  3.00 

3  6.50  2.16 

4  14.00  3.50 
3                                      7-50  2.50 
3                                      6.00  2.00 

65 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

DISTRICT  2  B,  RIDGE  AND  GESLER  STREETS  NEIGHBORHOOD 

AVERAGE  3.61  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE 

No.  of  Rooms                  Rent  per  Month  Rent  per  Room 

5                                   $14.00  $2.80 

5                                    16.00  3.20 

3                                      8.00  2.66 

3  9.00  3.00 

4  10-00  2.50 

5  12.00  2.50 

6  14.00  2.33 

4  11.00  2.75 

3  12.00  4.00 

5  15.00  3.00 

4  9.00  2.25 

6  16.00  2-66 

4  12.00  3.00 

DISTRICT  2C,  ATWELLS   AVENUE  AND   ALBRO  STREET 

NEIGHBORHOOD 

AVERAGE  4.14  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE 

No.  of  Rooms                   Rent  per  Month  Rent  per  Room 

5  $14.00  $2.80 

4  12.00  3.00 

5  Front                         15.00  3.00 

5  Rear                              12.00  2.40 

7  25.00  3-57 

6  16.00  2.66 
4  Rear                              10.00  2.50 

4  Front                          14.00  3.50 

5  16.00  3.20 
4                                   15.00  3.75 

DISTRICT  3,  CHALKSTONE  AVENUE  AND  GODDARD  STREET 

NEIGHBORHOOD 

AVERAGE  2.61  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE 

No.  of  Rooms                   Rent  per  Month  Rent  per  Room 

4                                 $11.00  $2-75 

3                                    6.00  2.00 

3   Front                              8.00  2.66 

3  Rear                               7.00  2.33 

4  8.00  2.00 
4                                    15.00  3.75 
4                                     9-00  2.25 

DISTRICT  4,  SHIP  AND  ELM  STREETS  NEIGHBORHOOD 

AVERAGE  2.16  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE 

No.  of  Rooms                   Rent  per  Month  Rent  per  Room 

4                                  $14.00  $3.50 

4                                    12.00  3.00 

4  8.00  2.00 
3                                      8.00  2.66 

6  18.00  3.00 

6  15.00  2.50 

5  14-00  2.80 
5                                    12.00  2.50 

7  18.00  2.57 
7                                    21.00  3.00 

66 


BUILDING  AND  MANAGEMENT 

DISTRICT  5,  CHARLES  STREET  AND  BRANCH  AVENUE 

NEIGHBORHOOD 

AVERAGE  3  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE 
No.  of  Rooms  Rent  per  Month  Rent  per  Room 

5  $12.00  $2.40 

6  Front  15.00  2.50 
4   Rear                                10.00  2.50 

4  9.00  2-25 

5  10.00  2.00 

6  17.00  2.83 
5                                    9.00  1.80 

3  8.00  2.66 

DISTRICT  6,   MANTON  AVENUE  AND  JULIAN  STREET 

NEIGHBORHOOD 

AVERAGE  2.76  FAMILIES  PER  HOUSE 

No.  of  Rooms                  Rent  per  Month  Rent  per  Room 

5                                   $6.50  $1.30 

5  9-00  1.80 

4  9.00  2.25 

6  11.00  1.83 
4                                   10.00                                  2.25 
6                                   10.00                       .  1.66 

4  7.00  1.75 
3                                     7.00                                   2.33 

2  Second   Floor  6.00  3-00 

3  Second  Floor  7.00  2.33 

5  Third  Floor  10.00  2.00 

Another  method  produces  similar  results.  The  rent  per  room  in 
three-deckers  and  in  larger  tenement  houses  is  higher,  rather  than 
lower,  than  the  rent  per  room  in  smaller  houses. 

DISTRICT  1  A 

1  -Family  Houses      2-Family  Houses       3-Family  Houses    Tenement  Houses 
$2.50  $2.15  $2-50  $2.00 

1.50  2.50  2.50  2.33 

1.75  2.20  2.25  2.00 

1.71  2.25 

2-50  4.00 

2.83 
2.66 

DISTRICT  1  B 

1 -Family  Houses      2-Family  Houses  3-Family  HOHSCS    Tenement  Houses 

$1.75                      $1.83  $2.50                    $2.66 

2.50                        2.75  2.00                      2.00 

2.80  3.50                      1.66 

2.00  3.00                      2.12 

2.33  2.75                      233 

2.50  2-66 

2.16  2.25 
1.50 

67 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

DISTRICT  2  A 

1- Family  Houses      2-FamiIy  Houses      3 -Family  Houses  Tenement  Houses 

$2.00                      $2.33                     $2.33  $3.00 

1.66                       2.40                      2-75  2.70 

2.40  3.75 

4.00  3.37 

4.33  2.25 

2-87  2.62 
3.00 
2.00 

DISTRICT  2  B 

1 -Family  Houses      2-Family  Houses       3-Family  Houses  Tenement  Houses 

$2.50                       $2.33                     $2.33  $3.00 

2.40                      2.75  2.70 

3.00                       2.40  3.75 

2-83                      4.00  3.37 

2.66                      4.33  2.25 

2.87  2.75 

3.00  2.62 
2.00 

DISTRICT  2  C 

1 -Family  Houses      2-Family  Houses      3-Family  Houses  Tenement  Houses 

$2.66                     $3.00  $2.80 

3.20                      2-20  3.00 

2.50                      3.57  3.12 

2.20                      2.85  3.25 

2.60  3.00 

3.20  3.50 

2.57 

3-75 

3.33 

DISTRICT  3 

1 -Family  Houses      2-Family  Houses      3-Family  Houses  Tenement  Houses 

$2.33                       $2.00                     $3.25  $2.66 

2.50                      3.50  2.33 

2.25                       3.75  2.25 

3.00                      3-60  2.20 
2.75                      3.75 

DISTRICT  4 

1 -Family  Houses      2-Family  Houses       3-Family  Houses  Tenement  Houses 

$2.40                      $2.00                     $1.60  $3.50 

2.00                        3.50                       3.00  3.00 

3.12                        2.66                       2.40  2.20 

1.66                       3-25  2.40 

2.66                       2.80  2.50 

2.16                        2.83  2.25 

2.42 

2.40 

3.00 

63 


BUILDING  AND  MANAGEMENT 
DISTRICT  5 

1 -Family  Houses       2-Family  Houses       3 -Family  Houses     Tenement  House* 

$1.40  $2.25  $3-00  $1.60 

2.08  2.50  2.40  2.40 

1.80  2.25  2.50  3.00 

2-00  2.80  2.80 

2.80  2.83  2.50 

2.20  2.33  2.12 

2.66  1.80  2.20 

2.25 
1.80 
1.75 
2.00 

DISTRICT  6 

1 -Family  Houses       2-Family  Houses       3 -Family  Houses     Tenement  Houses 
$1.30  $1.80  $2.25  $2-00 

2.33  2.00  2.50  2.25 

2.50  2.20  2.33 

233  2.00  1.60 

2.33 
3-00 

Of  course,  such  figures  as  these  are  merely  indicative.  They 
tell  nothing  of  the  condition  in  which  a  building  is  kept  or  of  the  floor 
space  per  room  or  of  the  location  of  rooms,  except  in  the  few  instances 
where  front  and  rear  apartments  in  tenement  houses  have  been  noted. 
They  do  show,  however,  that  with  generally  poorer  accommodations, 
with  an  increase  of  conditions  which  Providence  should  view  with 
concern,  the  larger  dwellings  do  not  furnish  lower  rentals. 


69 


IX 

Surrounding  Communities 


In  its  relations  with  its  surrounding  communities  Providence  has 
unusual  need  for  foresight  and  an  unusual  variety  of  opportunities  for 
its  exercise.  As  the  Metropolitan  Park  Commission  discovered, 
Providence  cannot  be  sufficient  unto  itself.  Its  street  system,  its  water 
system,  its  sewer  system  must  be  planned  with  regard  to  communities 
outside  its  borders.  Otherwise  there  will  develop  misadjustments 
which  will  not  only  cause  great  expense,  but,  even  more  important, 
poorer  results  when  the  misadjustments  are  finally  corrected  so  far  as 
possible.  And  meanwhile  there  will  be  the  dissatisfaction  and  ill  feel- 
ing that  are  inevitable  consequences  of  a  poor  job.  How  intimate  the 
relations  are  between  Providence  and  the  surounding  towns  and  cities 
was  illustrated  last  July,  when  the  Town  Council  of  East  Providence 
conferred  with  the  City  Council  over  the  re-routing  of  the  street  car 
lines  in  Exchange  Place. 

Other  foreshadowings  of  future  action  are  given  by  the  present 
arrangement  between  Providence  and  Pawtucket  in  regard  to  sewage, 
and  that  between  Providence  and  Cranston  in  regard  to  water  supply. 
The  central  city  cannot  afford  to  have  Pawtucket  dump  its  sewage 
into  the  Seekonk  River.  Soon  it  will  find  that  it  cannot  afford  to  have 
the  mill  towns  along  its  other  valleys  follow  this  old  barbarous  custom. 
Providence  now  has  reservoirs  and  pumping-station  in  Cranston  and 
is  impounding  the  waters  of  distant  towns.  The  time  is  coming  when 
other  populous  areas  in  the  Metropolitan  District  will  seek  water 
supplies  and  find  none  because  the  larger  city,  having  felt  its  need  first, 
has  pre-empted  them.  Yet  even  from  the  most  selfish  point  of  view, 
Providence  cnnnot  remain  indifferent  to  the  wants  of  its  neighbors. 
The  interests  of  the  whole  district  are  bound  up  together.  Now, 
before  piecemeal  building  has  made  a  good  system  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  is  the  time  to  plan  what  should  be  done  in  order  that  each 
piece  of  work  as  it  is  undertaken  may  fit  into  the  final  plan. 

As  with  the  public  services,  so  with  housing.  The  parts  of 
the  Metropolitan  District  are  not  a  series  of  unrelated  areas,  but  are 
parts  of  one  whole.  To  adopt  good  housing  regulations  for  Provi- 
dence, while  none  are  adopted  by  the  other  parts  of  the  district,  will 
benefit  Providence  at  the  expense  of  the  rest.  For  those  who  build 
badly,  whose  thought  is  only  of  the  present  and  not  at  all  of  the 
future,  will  turn  their  full  attention  to  the  other  cities  and  towns.  It 
was  fear  of  such  concentrated  attention  that  moved  Brookline  to  pro- 
hibit frame  three-deckers  after  some  of  the  nearby  towns  had  done  so. 
Already  Cranston  is  suffering  from  lack  of  any  regulation. 

70 


Court   off    Harris   Avenue.     Every    room   light 


Court  Houses  in  the  midst  of  a  large  block.     Deserted  House  in  the  foreground 


A  Four-family  House  in  a  Mill  Town 


An    Italian   Farmhouse.     Near   the   Hughesdale   Post   Office,   Johnston 


SURROUNDING  COMMUNITIES 

THE  EDGES  OF  THE  CITY 

Providence  has  an  unusual  variety  of  opportunities  to  exercise 
its  foresight  because  of  the  unusual  variety  of  conditions  along  the 
edges  of  the  city. 

To  the  north  lies  Pawtucket,  a  city  of  more  than  55,000  people. 
Already  its  built-up  areas  are  in  spots  touching  those  of  the  metropolis. 
In  Pawtucket  the  same  conditions  as  those  we  found  in  Providence 
are  already  fully  developed.  It  now  needs  housing  regulation  fully  as 
much  as  does  the  larger  city. 

To  the  northwest  and  west  lie  North  Providence  and  Johnston. 
Along  the  border  between  them  and  the  metropolis  there  are  large 
areas  of  undeveloped  land,  broken  here  and  there  by  old  mill  villages, 
like  Manton,  Dyerville  and  Merino;  or  by  an  occasional  newer  de- 
velopment, like  that  about  Neutaconkanut  Hill  Park.  Here  is  the 
great  opportunity  to  build  the  future  city  on  a  better  basis  than  the  old. 
This  opportunity  has  already  been  seen  by  the  City  Plan  Commission. 
But  even  here  there  are  some  bad  spots,  land  already  platted,  a  few 
houses  of  bad  type  erected,  which  makes  more  difficult  the  planning  of 
the  rest  and  which  set  lower  standards  for  the  neighborhood  than 
should  prevail. 

To  the  southwest  and  south  lies  the  city  of  Cranston,  composed 
of  suburban  districts,  old  mill  villages  and  towns,  and  large  areas  of 
open  farm  and  woodland.  It  has  so  many  problems  of  its  own  that 
we  shall  treat  of  it  more  at  length. 

To  the  east,  across  the  Seekonk  River  and  the  bay,  lies  East 
Providence,  a  town  which,  like  Cranston,  calls  for  more  detailed 
discussion. 

On  the  open  edges  of  the  city,  both  within  and  without  its 
borders,  developments  that  are  or  may  be  of  the  greatest  significance 
to  the  future  city  are  taking  place.  Here  are  many  scattered  holdings 
of  people  of  the  immigrant  races.  The  Portuguese,  who  do  little  build- 
ing within  the  older  districts,  build  homes  out  here  where  they  may 
have  gardens  or  farms  that  will  produce  an  income.  Many  of  the  sec- 
ond generation  of  Swedes  and  the  other  northern  peoples  also  have 
been  drawn  to  these  open  spaces.  But  again  it  is  the  Italians  who 
command  the  most  attention.  Within  the  city  limits,  as  around  Silver 
Lake ;  in  growing  but  not  yet  closely  built  parts  of  Cranston,  as  north 
of  Auburn  and  near  Knightsville,  they  have  tracts  of  land  which  they 
cultivate.  Far  from  the  city,  as  in  Johnston,  they  have  bought  farms 
from  which  they  produce  an  income  after  American  predecessors  had 
failed.  How  they  do  it  is  a  question  that  merits  study,  for,  as  with 
housing  property,  the  fact  that  a  farm  to-day  yields  more  than  is  put 
into  it  is  not  a  complete  answer  to  the  question  put  in  the  name  of  the 
welfare  of  the  community. 

But  the  fact  that  these  peoples  are  moving  away  from  the 
crowded  districts,  that  they  show  in  this  tangible  fashion  their  desire 

71 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

for  space  and  sun,  are  things  not  to  be  neglected  by  those  concerned 
for  the  future  of  the  city.  The  grape  arbors  that  are  becoming  so 
noticeable  an  adornment  of  the  farmhouses  in  the  rural  regions  about 
Providence  are  tokens  of  a  change  as  fundamental  in  its  significance 
as  the  changing  ownership  of  city  lands. 

THE  TOWN  OF   EAST   PROVIDENCE 

Reached  by  three  car  lines  from  Providence,  and  with  large 
tracts  of  vacant  land  within  the  five-cent  fare,  East  Providence  is 
building  up  to  suburban  homes,  though  part  of  its  population  works  in 
local  mills  and  other  industries.  As  yet  there  is  a  return  current  night 
and  morning,  because  some  of  the  mill  workers  prefer  to  live  in  Provi- 
dence and  because  of  lack  of  vacant  dwellings  in  East  Providence. 

It  is  a  district  of  modest  homes,  many  of  them  owned  for  a  gen- 
eration or  more,  and  bought  to  be  lived  in,  not  for  rental  returns. 
Built  almost  entirely  of  wood,  the  houses  in  the  different  villages 
which  make  up  the  town  of  East  Providence  differ  mainly  in  freshness 
of  paint,  care  of  yards,  and  pride  in  fences,  sidewalks  and  tree-lined 
streets.  Some  are  weatherworn  and  dingy,  some  fresh  and  spruce. 
Some  are  elaborate  in  size  and  design,  but  the  impression  is  of  a  resi- 
dential town  of  modest  story-and-a-half  cottages  and  two-family 
houses  inhabited  by  families  with  comfortable,  steady  incomes,  thrift 
and  self-respect.  To  the  north  lie  the  shops  and  works  along 
the  rivers,  to  the  south  the  summer  resorts  along  the  bay.  In  the 
middle  is  the  Watchemoket  District,  to  which  in  common  usage  the 
name  of  East  Providence  is  confined,  as  it  is  the  oldest  and  dominat- 
ing settlement  of  the  town. 

East  Providence  lies  in  a  long  narrow  strip  between  the  Seekonk 
River  and  Narragansett  Bay  on  the  west  and  the  state  line  on  the 
east;  from  Pawtucket  on  the  north  to  Crescent  Park  on  the  south. 
Through  its  seven  miles  of  length  and  three  of  width  are  scattered 
many  villages :  Phillipsdale,  Rumford,  Hunt's  Mills,  Riverside,  Cres- 
cent Park,  and  many  smaller  settlements  bearing  names  known  lo- 
cally, but  not  on  the  map.  With  a  total  population  in  1915  of 
18,584,*  a  large  part  is  still  farm  land,  even  where  the  maps  show 
platted  streets.  The  stakes  and  other  markings  of  land  development 
companies  show  where  streets  will  be.  In  some  of  the  outlying  dis- 
tricts, water  mains,  gas  and  electricity  have  been  put  in.  Except  in 
the  central  part  of  East  Providence,  paving,  drainage,  sewers  and 
sidewalks  are  left  to  the  future. 


*  State  Census. 


72 


SURROUNDING  COMMUNITIES 

In  his  annual  report  for  the  year  ending  September  30,   1915, 
the  building  inspector  lists  the  following  permits  for  dwellings: 

50  1   story 

37  \y2  story 

41  2  stories 

16  2l/2  stories 

1  3l/2   stories 

145 

Barns  and  shops  changed  into  dwellings 3 

Summer  cottages 15 

Additions  and  alterations   .  .120 


ONE  AND  TWO-FAMILY  HOUSES  PREDOMINATE 

These  figures  are  indicative  of  the  types  of  houses  all  over  the 
town.  In  general  there  seems  a  slight  preponderance  of  the  one-story 
or  one-story-and-a-half  cottage,  detached  or  semi-detached.  Next 
come  the  two-family  dwellings.  There  are  some  three-deckers  and 
an  occasional  block  of  tenements.  But  in  no  part  of  the  town  is 
there  extensive  land  overcrowding.  Most  of  the  lots  are  of  good  size, 
and  only  occasionally  is  there  a  rear  dwelling.  The  standard  lot  is 
40  to  50  by  100  to  150  feet,  and  in  the  best  sections  a  house  fre- 
quently stands  on  two  lots. 

In  the  sections  which  are  now  being  developed  by  land  sales  of 
various  kinds,  the  lots  usually  are  small,  40  by  50  to  50  by  50  feet, 
the  intention  being  to  sell  two  lots  for  a  dwelling.  Although  the  sign- 
boards with  their  alluring  legends  offer  "lots  from  $49  to  $129,"  it  is 
only  the  unsophisticated  buyer  who  does  not  calculate  that  his  initial 
cost  for  his  land  will  be  double,  and  that  he  must  later  pay  for  sewers, 
sidewalks,  pavements  and,  in  many  places,  for  drainage. 

The  fifty  one-story  houses  reported  as  built  in  1915  are  in  these 
newer  districts.  They  are  put  up  usually  by  Italians  or  Portuguese 
as  shelters  until  the  family  savings  have  paid  for  the  lets  and  permit 
of  something  better.  There  is  a  trade  in  "ready  cut"  houses  that 
may  be  put  up  at  odd  times  by  the  wage-earning  buyer  of  the  lots. 

Apparently  East  Providence  offers  a  very  desirable  place  for 
suburban  development  other  than  the  inexpensive  homes  of  small 
wage-earners.  While  there  are  no  monsions,  there  are  fairly  expen- 
sive homes  in  sufficient  numbers  to  make  the  visitor  wonder  why  there 
are  not  more.  Closer  inquiry  and  analysis  reveal  some  of  the  reasons. 

The  water-front  district  is  subject  to  smoke  and  other  nuisances 
from  the  railroads  and  works  along  the  river.  Several  districts  are 
swampy  or  wet,  so  that  in  addition  to  sewers  an  extensive  drainage 
system  is  necessary.  Some  desirable  sections  already  have  been  ex- 
ploited by  land-development  companies  who  seek  buyers  among  those 
Italians  and  Portuguese  who  are  looking  for  cheap  sites.  These  peo- 

73 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

pie  buy  on  a  narrow  margin,  have  no  money  to  spend  on  extras,  little 
interest  in  community  amenities,  and  an  aversion  to  taxes. 

There  has  been  no  strong  community  effort  to  counteract  these 
drawbacks.  Barrington  parkway  is  projected  and  partially  built 
along  the  east  shore,  but  there  is  no  other  attempt  at  planned  develop- 
ment or  the  protection  of  residential  districts.  Mills  and  works  locate 
where  they  will;  sewers  and  paved  streets  are  extended  but  slowly; 
house  connections  with  sewers  are  not  compulsory,*  and  in  all  parts 
of  the  town  are  unsanitary  and  unsightly  privies.** 

To  the  south  attractive  homes  line  Pawtucket  Avenue  and  some 
of  the  side  streets,  but  even  here  the  signs  advertising  $49  and  $  1 29 
lots  herald  the  future. 

Three  golf  clubs  on  the  north  and  two  country  clubs  on  the 
south  are  proofs  of  the  possibilities  of  the  town,  and  indicate  that  with 
careful  planning  and  control,  East  Providence  should  develop  into 
a  very  desirable  residence  section. 

THE  VILLAGES 

Phillipsdale  and  Rumford,  with  the  amusement  park  at  Hunt's 
Mills,  are  next  to  the  Pawtucket  line.  Phillipsdale  lies  along  the 
Seekonk  River,  which  gives  water  as  well  as  railroad  transportation 
to  its  mills.  The  two  largest  are  the  Glenlyon  Dye  Works  and  the 
American  Electrical  Works;  but  four  other  smaller  works  give  di- 
versified employment.  Both  of  the  larger  works  own  tenant  houses. 
Yet  there  are  sixteen  extra  street  cars  run  as  specials  night  and  morn- 
ing to  carry  a  large  number  of  employees  to  their  homes  in  East  Provi- 
dence or  Providence.  The  Dye  Works  has  tenements  for  about  one 
hundred  families.  These  are  neat,  well-kept  houses,  mostly  frame, 
though  a  few  of  the  newer  ones  are  built  of  brick  and  attractively  de- 
signed. The  Electrical  Works  has  fewer  houses,  all  frame,  less  at- 
tractive and  well  kept,  especially  as  to  sanitary  conveniences.  There 
are  some  private  houses,  one  general  store,  a  school  and  a  church. 
With  so  much  open  country  nearby  and  its  diversified  industries,  Phil- 
lipsdale offers  opportunity  for  the  development  of  an  industrial  town 
along  the  most  modern  lines. 

Rumford  and  Hunt's  Mills  lie  to  the  east  of  Phillipsdale  on 
the  Ten  Mile  River.  Only  the  resident  knows  where  one  stops  and 
the  other  begins.  Large  lots,  or  acres,  surround  most  of  the  comfort- 
able, unpretentious  homes  which  are  typical  of  a  region  that  is  chang- 
ing from  farms  to  suburb.  The  Rumford  Works  has  isolated  itself 
by  the  purchase  of  a  large  tract  of  land.  It  owns  six  tenant  houses, 
but  most  of  the  employees  provide  homes  for  themselves.  Around 


*  The  Town  Council  has  been  given  some  power  by  the  Legislature  of 
1916. 

**See  report  of  the  Health  Officer,  1915. 

74 


SURROUNDING  COMMUNITIES 

the  amusement  park  at  Hunt's  Mills  cluster  a  few  houses,  but  the 
region  is  still  largely  rural. 

THE  WATCHEMOKET  DISTRICT 

In  the  center  lies  the  Watchemoket  District,  commonly  called 
East  Providence.  It  consists  of  the  most  closely  built-up  part  of  the 
town.  Along  the  river  front  are  the  railroad,  works,  coal  pockets, 
oyster  packing  plants,  oil  tanks  and  shipping  industries.  A  traffic 
and  a  railroad  bridge  connect  it  with  Providence.  The  business  cen- 
ter radiates  along  Taunton  and  Warren  avenues  from  the  end  of 
Washington  Bridge,  but  stores  are  small,  as  most  of  the  shopping  is 
done  in  Providence.  Between  Waterman  Avenue  on  the  north,  War- 
ren Avenue  on  the  south,  Pawtucket  Avenue  on  the  east,  and  the 
Seekonk  River  on  the  west,  the  area  is  fairly  solidly  but  not  closely 
built  up.  Here  and  there  is  a  section,  a  few  blocks,  of  attractive, 
larger  houses  with  tree-lined  streets  and  green  yards,  or  of  smaller 
cottages,  well  painted  and  showing  pride  of  ownership.  Other  neigh- 
borhoods bear  the  impress  of  the  tenant,  shabby  and  run  down. 

The  main  streets  are  well  paved  and  sewered  and  have  good 
sidewalks  and  curbing;  but  the  side  streets  are  dirt  roads  with  side 
paths  often  impassable.  Water  and  sewers  are  under  the  control  of 
the  administrative  board  of  the  Watchemoket  Fire  District,  a  peculiar 
sort  of  a  vending  company  for  these  public  utilities,  whose  officers  are 
elected  by  the  tax-payers  who  live  in  the  district.  The  division  of 
control  between  town  and  district  officials  seems  to  result  in  no  one 
being  especially  concerned  in  compelling  the  installation  of  sewer-con- 
nected toilets  and  the  abolishment  of  outdoor  privies,  unless  it  can  be 
done  at  a  profit,  except  the  Health  Officer,  and  he  is  without  authority. 

THE  TOWN'S  SLUM 

The  only  slum  of  the  town  lies  along  the  river  front.  As  an  ex- 
ample of  all  possible  bad  conditions  in  a  small  area  it  is  perfect.  On 
Valley  and  Water  streets  are  from  fifty  to  sixty  old  houses,  sometimes 
three  to  a  lot.  Some  are  built  of  scraps,  all  are  in  bad  repair,  dingy 
and  dirty,  and  interspersed  with  saloons.  Here  gather  in  the  Crow's 
Nest  and  in  Goat  Alley,  black  Portuguese,  American  negroes  and 
shiftless  whites,  many  well  known  to  the  police.  Dirty  kitchens,  over- 
crowded bedrooms,  privies  with  sagging  shelters  and  overflowing 
vaults,  streets  deep  with  coal  dust  and  ashes,  add  each  their  quota  to 
the  squalor.  Work  on  the  docks  is  irregular,  so  there  is  ample  time 
as  well  as  inclination  on  the  part  of  the  denizens  for  loafing  and  for 
sleeping  in  the  sun.  Along  the  river  runs  the  railroad,  overhead  the 
bridge  meets  the  business  streets.  Valley  and  Water  streets  are  rarely 
visited  by  outsiders,  except  the  nurse  and  the  policeman — both  of 
whom  find  frequent  occasion  for  their  calls. 

75 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

In  the  southern  end  of  the  town  lie  Riverside  and  Crescent  Park, 
connected  with  East  Providence  village  by  Pawtucket  Avenue,  with 
its  comfortable  homes  and  trolley  line. 

Riverside  is  a  little  more  than  seven  miles  from  Market  Square. 
It  is  made  up  of  both  summer  homes  and  the  permanent  homes  of  men 
whose  work  permits  the  distance  and  the  ten-cent  fare.  Many  of 
them  are  motormen  or  other  employees  of  the  car  lines.  The  houses 
are  piped  for  water,  but,  except  for  a  few  private  drains,  there  are  no 
sewers.  Because  of  the  bay  it  is  a  pleasant  residence  district  which 
should  be  protected  from  a  development  that  will  ruin  its  possibilities. 

THE  CITY  OF  CRANSTON 

From  the  southern  city  line  of  Providence  to  the  Pawtuxet 
River  on  the  south,  from  Narragansett  Bay  to  the  Pocasset  River  on 
the  west,  lies  the  built-up  portion  of  the  city  of  Cranston — a  crescent- 
shaped  suburb.  Ever  since  1868,  when  the  larger  city  absorbed  a 
good-sized  section,  annexation  or  consolidation  has  been  discussed, 
but  except  in  the  case  of  the  land  taken  for  Roger  Williams  Park,  no 
definite  action  has  been  taken.  On  the  Pawtuxet  River  are  the  water 
works  of  Providence;  its  mains  extend  through  the  city  of  Cranston, 
to  which  it  supplies  water  as  it  does  to  its  own  inhabitants.  The 
sewage-disposal  problem  is  the  same  for  both  cities.  Highways, 
streets,  trolley  lines  and  railroads  serve  the  needs  of  both. 

It  was  incorporated  as  the  city  of  Cranston  in  1910,  with  a 
mayor,  a  city  treasurer,  an  overseer  of  the  poor  and  a  common  coun- 
cil. It  covers  an  area  of  thirty  square  miles,  with  a  wide  variety  of 
suburbs,  manufacturing  centers,  mill  towns,  villages  and  farm  land. 
More  than  half  of  Cranston  is  farm  and  woodland,  though  houses 
are  extending  along  the  highways  into  the  open  country,  and  bringing 
additional  problems  of  health,  sanitation  and  police  protection. 

Growth  is  rapid,  both  in  population  and  in  industries.  The  cen- 
sus of  1900  counted  13,343  inhabitants;  that  of  1910,  21,107. 
The  estimated  population  in  1916  is  30,000.  This  is  based  upon 
the  new  registration  lists,  which  show  an  increase  of  about  500  voters 
over  the  5,000  previously  listed.  Italians  are  moving  into  all  parts 
of  the  city,  and,  as  a  rule,  promptly  qualify  for  voting  as  property 
owners.  While  no  figures  are  available  as  to  the  Italian  vote,  it  is  a 
factor  in  all  elections. 

As  diversified  as  the  villages,  mill  towns,  factory  centers  and 
residential  districts  which  it  includes,  are  Cranston's  industries. 
Through  the  center  of  the  eastern  section  runs  the  railroad,  lined  on 
either  side  with  large  factories  and  shops,  old  and  new.  In  the  open 
spaces  are  large  market  gardens  where  long  rows  of  blue-aproned, 
bent-backed  Italian  women  move  like  pieces  of  machinery  as  they 
weed  or  hoe.  Construction  work  on  the  interurban  trolleys,  as  well 
as  permanent  work  for  motormen  and  conductors,  furnish  another  kind 

76 


SURROUNDING  COMMUNITIES 

of  employment.  The  building  trades  are  busy  with  new  houses,  fac- 
tories and  mills.  On  the  west  edge  of  the  settled  portion  are  the  two 
old  mill  towns  of  the  Cranston  Print  Works  with  their  rows  of  tenant 
houses,  all  built  from  the  same  pattern  fifty  or  more  years  ago,  now 
surrounded  by  the  new  cottages  and  tenements  of  the  Italian  frontier. 


LACK  OF  REGULATION 

There  is  a  curious  lack  of  public  service  utilities  and  of  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  usual  powers  of  city  control  in  Cranston,  despite  its  rap- 
idly increasing  population  and  industries.  Though  hundreds  of  new 
houses  are  being  erected  in  every  direction,  there  are  no  building  code 
and  no  building  inspection.  Each  man  may  build  as  he  pleases  with 
no  regard  for  neighbors  or  community.  Nominally,  he  must  get  a  per- 
mit before  commencing  construction,  but  there  is  no  one  to  enforce 
even  this  meagre  provision.  If  he  chooses  to  erect  a  six-family  tene- 
ment house  in  the  middle  of  wide,  open  spaces,  or  if  he  prefers  a  shack 
for  a  shelter  while  he  cultivates  his  crops,  his  own  pocketbook  is  the 
only  thing  to  consult.  There  are  no  sewers,  so  his  sanitary  conven- 
iences consist  of  a  privy  or  a  cesspool.  Practically  all  the  built-up  sec- 
tions are  piped  for  Providence  water,  but  if  he  chooses  he  may  dig 
a  well  and  take  his  own  risk  of  typhoid  fever.  The  Superintendent  of 
Health  draws  $400  as  salary  from  the  city.  For  this  he  must  look 
after  thirty  square  miles  and  thirty  thousand  inhabitants.  Needless 
to  say,  constructive  health  and  sanitary  reforms  are  practically  out  of 
the  question  for  lack  of  time.  Excepting  for  the  installation  of  fire 
hydrants,  protection  against  conflagration,  always  serious  with  frame 
houses,  is  left  to  volunteer  companies.  The  thrifty  Italians  are  com- 
mencing to  use  concrete  and  terra-cotta  blocks,  not  only  for  founda- 
tions, but  for  walls  of  houses  of  one,  two  or  three  stories. 

Cranston's  real  troubles  are  in  the  future.  At  present  it  is,  in 
general,  a  pleasant  community  of  one  and  two-family  houses  set  on 
lots  40  or  50  feet  wide  by  1  00  to  150  feet  deep,  which  bear  plain 
evidences  of  thrift  and  home  ownership.  In  some  cf  the  older  sec- 
tions houses  are  dingy  and  in  need  of  fresh  paint  and  minor  repairs, 
but  the  general  impression  is  of  a  progressive,  thriving  community  of 
comfortable,  American  standard  homes.  Here  and  there  the  prac- 
ticed eye  sees  indication  of  undesirable  tendencies  in  lot  overcrowding, 
in  poor  types  of  tenement  houses,  in  lack  of  sanitary  conveniences. 
But  there  is  little  that  cannot  be  eliminated  or  prevented  if  taken  care 
of  now.  Cranston  is  already  too  large  to  leave  community  interests 
without  control  and  to  allow  unrestrained  liberty  in  matters  which  af- 
fect one's  neighbors. 

While  a  detailed  study  of  Cranston  was  not  made,  general  in- 
spections and  talks  with  the  city  clerk,  merchants  and  the  district  nurse- 
gave  the  following  information: 

77 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

Starting  at  the  northeast  central  section,  next  the  Providence  city 
line,  Arlington  and  Auburn  have  the  same  types  of  development  that 
are  general  in  the  contiguous  district  which  was  annexed  in  1 868. 
One,  two  and  three-family  frame  houses  prevail.  They  have  fair- 
sized  rooms,  water  piped  in,  and  yards  with  grass  plots  or  gardens. 
But  they  have  the  settled,  shabby  look  of  middle  age,  in  vivid  contrast 
with  the  newer,  smarter  houses  in  the  adjoining  additions  of  Eden 
Park,  Auburn  Plateau,  South  Auburn  and  Edgewood. 

Throughout  this  section  the  census  man  would  say  that  the  popu- 
lation is  American  with  a  foundation  of  the  older  Irish-American  set- 
tlers, reinforced  by  the  American-born  children  of  Germans,  Swedes 
and  Italians.  Small  colonies  of  Armenians,  white  Portuguese  and 
Italians  speak  their  own  languages  and  share  little  in  the  community 
life. 

HOW  CRANSTON  IS  CHANGING 

The  new  industrial  establishments  which  are  coming  into  Auburn 
are  changing  conditions  in  their  immediate  vicinity.  There  are  larger 
tenement  houses  and  a  more  shifting  population.  The  trolleys  bring 
many  workmen  each  day  from  Providence  who  spend  no  money  in 
the  town  and  have  no  interest  in  it,  yet  are  a  part  of  its  problems. 

To  the  south,  along  the  line  of  the  trolley  in  Pontiac  Avenue, 
are  a  large  number  of  new,  modern  houses,  built  within  the  past  ten 
years.  Through  the  neighborhood  are  Swedish  families,  who  for- 
merly worked  in  the  market  gardens.  Now  this  work  is  largely  done 
by  gangs  of  Italian  women,  for  some  of  whom  wagons  are  sent  each 
morning  to  neighboring  settlements.  From  seven  in  the  morning  until 
five  at  night  they  may  be  seen  in  the  fields  as  they  stoop  over  the  rows 
of  celery,  beans  and  peas.  With  their  numerous,  full  petticoats, 
bright  handkerchiefs  on  heads,  tanned  necks  and  faces,  swinging  hips 
and  smiling  eyes,  they  reproduce  the  pictures  of  peasant  life  in  their 
native  country. 

Just  to  the  south  of  Roger  Williams  Park  a  small  group  of 
mill  houses,  which  years  ago  were  the  isolated  village  of  the  "turkey 
red"  mills,  are  a  signpost  showing  the  growth  of  Providence.  Now 
they  are  surrounded  by  modern  suburban  houses,  so  new  that  the  lum- 
ber still  smells.  On  the  east  are  the  pleasant  homes  of  Edgewood,  a 
daytime  shelter  of  women  and  children  only,  since  almost  to  a  man 
the  fathers  go  to  work  in  Providence. 

South  of  Edgewood  lies  the  old-time  shipping  village  of  Paw- 
tuxet,  which  claims  a  greater  age  than  that  of  Providence.  It  is  a 
self-contained,  self-respecting  village  with  many  old  homes  along  the 
mouth  of  the  river  and  the  shore  of  the  bay.  Boat  building  and  other 
industries  of  the  water  are  its  principal  interests.  Arlington  and  Paw- 
tuxet  lie  at  the  opposite  ends  of  the  crescent  which  make  up  the  closely 
settled  parts  of  Cranston.  Yet  even  in  this  district  there  are  many 
stretches  of  farm  land,  woodland,  market  gardens  and  large  plats,  not 
yet  cut  up  into  lots. 

78 


SURROUNDING  COMMUNITIES 

To  the  west,  on  Oaklawn  Avenue  and  Cranston  Street,  the  vil- 
lages of  Wayland  Park  and  Meshanticut  Park  are  largely  owned  by 
American  families  who  are  trying  to  prevent  the  invasion  of  foreigners. 
The  two  mill  villages  of  the  Cranston  Print  Works,  one  on  Dyer  Ave- 
nue, one  off  Park  Avenue,  no  longer  house  hands  from  the  mills  ex- 
clusively, but  rents  are  lower  to  the  old  tenants  of  more  than  ten 
years'  residence  than  to  the  new  comers.  In  the  Italian  colonies  near 
by  may  be  seen  nearly  every  kind  of  a  house  for  which  congested  Fed- 
eral Hill  has  set  the  example,  even  to  a  six-family  tenement  standing 
alone  in  the  midst  of  open  spaces.  One  four-family  house  with  con- 
crete first  story  and  brick  second  story,  seems  to  cover  its  lot  to  the 
side  lines  and  to  leave  scant  space  at  the  rear.  Three-family  tene- 
ments and  cottages  stand  side  by  side. 

In  Thornton,  formerly  almost  a  replica  of  an  English  village 
with  cottages  and  gardens,  the  Italian  invasion  has  begun.  Along  the 
main  road  the  tenement  houses  march  as  closely  together  as  on  Atwells 
Avenue. 

In  every  settlement  of  Cranston  are  evidences  of  the  crying  need 
for  a  housing  law  and  its  strict  enforcement  if  the  mistakes  of  other 
communities  are  to  be  barred  out.  It  is  at  the  point  where  it  can 
choose  whether  it  will  permit  the  development  of  evils  to  be  painfully 
corrected  at  some  time  in  the  future,  or  whether  it  will  develop  nor- 
mally into  a  city  of  pleasant,  healthful,  American  standard  homes. 


79 


X 

Some  Mill  Towns 


Three  streams  empty  into  Narragansett  Bay  at  Providence- 
Lip  the  valleys  of  these  streams  lie  a  series  of  mill  villages,  some  of 
them  once  isolated,  self-contained  little  communities,  but  now  merging 
into  one  another,  so  that  in  the  not  far-distant  future  they  will  form 
long  unbroken  lines  stretching  out  from  the  parent  city.  The  mills 
were  located  along  these  streams  because  of  the  water-power.  The 
villages  were  built  by  the  mill  owners,  not  from  choice,  but  from  ne- 
cessity. In  the  old  days  before  trolley  lines  followed  all  the  main 
highways  the  workers  had  to  live  within  walking  distance  of  the  mill. 
To-day  the  custom  of  building  dwellings  is  continued  by  many  of  the 
mills  for  a  variety  of  reasons,  though  the  management  usually  claims 
that  it  regards  them  as  a  source  of  work  and  worry  with  which  it 
would  gladly  dispense.  In  few  if  any  cases  do  the  mill  houses  earn 
a  fair  return  upon  the  investment.  Where  they  do  show  a  fair  return 
the  houses  usually  were  built  many  years  ago  and  are  still  valued  at 
the  cost  of  building  at  that  time.  To-day,  with  a  trolley  service  which 
connects  the  towns  with  each  other  and  with  Providence,  mill  work- 
ers can  go  longer  distances  to  their  homes.  This  ability  to  get  to  and 
from  the  city  and  other  centers  of  employment  and  recreation  has  led 
to  a  considerable  amount  of  private  home-building  and  to  speculative 
building,  so  now  many  of  the  mill  towns  have  private  developments 
on  their  borders. 

SEWERS  AND  WATER 

With  this  growth  in  population  have  come  community  problems 
that  call  for  tactful  handling,  but  are  so  important  that  they  must  be 
handled  in  some  way  soon.  For  these  long,  narrow  towns  have  be- 
come virtually  a  part  of  Providence,  and  they  must  be  made  and 
kept  at  least  sanitary,  not  only  for  their  own  sakes,  but  for  that  of 
the  metropolis  as  well.  At  present  their  contributions  to  Providence 
by  way  of  the  waters  of  the  Blackstone  and  the  Woonasquatucket 
rivers  are  not  such  as  the  city  can  receive  with  pleasure  or  safety. 
Some  of  the  newest  of  them,  as  the  new  village  at  Esmond,  are  sew- 
ered and  the  houses  have  indoor  water-closets.  The  older  villages 
still  depend  upon  privies.  Despite  agitation  for  better  sanitation  con- 
ditions are  still  far  from  what  they  should  be.  Perhaps  the  investi- 
gators of  the  Federal  Public  Health  Service  may  secure  an  improve- 
ment. The  West  Warwick  Town  Council  last  July  had  presented 
to  it  a  mass  of  testimony  that  should  cause  shame  to  the  representa- 
tives of  any  civilized  community.  The  Crawford  Street  brook  was 

80 


Old   mill   houses   at   Esmond.     Rent   $1.20   a  week 


New  semi-detached  house   for  Foremen   at   Esmond 


Mill    Houses   in   Greystone 


Mill  Houses  in  Crompton 


SOME  MILL  TOWNS 

said  to  be  used  as  an  outlet  for  cesspools  and  privy  vaults;  the  over- 
flow of  a  cesspool  back  of  the  Alice  building  in  the  heart  of  the  busi- 
ness section  of  Arctic  Center  was  said  to  flow  into  the  gutters  of 
Central  and  Quidnick  streets. 

These  little  villages,  lying  so  close  to  each  other  and  all  on  the 
watershed  of  Providence,  are,  from  the  point  of  sewage  disposal,  parts 
of  one  unit,  the  Metropolitan  District.  Each  cannot  solve  its  problem 
by  itself.  Consequently,  the  sooner  a  plan  is  made  for  the  whole  dis- 
trict, the  better  for  them  and  for  the  district  as  a  whole. 

As  regards  water  supply  the  situation  is  better,  since  each  mill 
must  have  water;  and  some  find  the  task  of  supplying  at  least  their 
own  houses  comparatively  easy.  In  the  three  villages  most  thoroughly 
studied — Esmond,  Berkeley  and  River  Point — the  company-owned 
houses  had  water  within  the  dwellings.  This  problem,  however,  like 
the  sewage  problem,  is  too  large  for  the  mills  to  handle  individually 
and  should  be  made  the  subject  of  a  study  based  upon  the  needs  of 
the  whole  Metropolitan  District,  taking  into  account  not  only  present 
but  future  needs. 


THE  PEOPLES  OF  THE  MILL  VILLAGES 

The  populations  of  the  valley  towns  contain  the  same  elements 
we  found  in  Providence,  except  that  there  are  few  Jews.  In  Esmond, 
for  instance,  the  mill  employees  were  said  by  the  management  to  be 

French-Canadian 2&y2   per  cent. 

English  .  • 23       per  cent. 

Italian 18^<   per  cent- 
American  16       per  cent. 

Polish 4^2   per  cent. 

Irish 3 1/2  per  cent. 

Portuguese 1 1/2  per  cent. 

Russian I        per  cent. 

Miscellaneous  • 3J/2   per  cent. 


In  the  other  towns  the  proportions  are  different,  but  the  same 
elements  are  present.  Forty  per  cent  of  the  mill  employees  at  Es- 
mond live  in  the  mill  houses,  and  more  would  do  so  in  all  probability 
if  more  houses  were  available.  At  the  time  we  were  there  only  two 
houses  were  vacant.  This  proportion  is  not  to  be  applied  to  all  the 
villages  for  two  reasons  at  least:  First,  many  of  the  Esmond  houses 
are  new,  their  rooms  are  large  and  they  are  equipped  not  only  with 
running  water,  but  with  indoor  water-closets.  Second,  other  villages 
have  much  larger  private  developments  in  their  immediate  neighbor- 
hood. A  few  of  the  mills  on  the  borders  of  Providence  have  no 
tenants  in  their  houses,  or  they  rent  the  houses  both  to  their  own  work- 
ers and  to  others,  so  they  have  ceased  to  be  characteristic  mill  devel- 
opments. 

81 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 


TYPES  OF  DWELLINGS 

To  one  who  passes  through  the  mill  towns  without  stopping  to 
inspect  them  in  detail,  nearly  all  present  an  attractive  appearance,  the 
older  ones  especially,  with  their  groups  of  comfortable-looking  frame 
or  brick  houses  shaded  by  tall  old  trees.  There  is  a  great  variety  in 
the  houses  of  the  different  villages,  but  considerable  uniformity  within 
a  village.  So  each  village  possesses  an  individuality  that  is  lacking  in 
its  dwellings.  Yet  for  all  this  variety  in  appearance,  the  houses  fall 
into  four  classes : 

Single- family  detached  cottages. 

Single- family  semi-detached  or  double  cottages. 

Four-family  houses. 

Six  or  more  family  cottages. 

Nearly  all  of  these  are  a  story  and  attic  or  two  stories  in  height. 
The  proportion  of  each  varies  considerably  in  the  different  villages. 
In  some  of  the  older  ones  the  first  class  is  well  represented,  but  it  is 
the  second  that  has  evidently  most  commended  itself,  as  it  is  found 
everywhere  and  especially  in  the  newer  developments.  The  larger 
houses,  though  they  may  seem  economical  when  cost  of  construction 
alone  is  considered,  evidently  do  not  bear  out  their  promise,  as  they 
are  usually  in  worse  disrepair  than  their  smaller  neighbors,  and  their 
yards  and  outbuildings  in  less  cleanly  condition.  Here,  as  in  the  city, 
it  is  evident  that  common  use  of  halls,  yards  and  other  facilities  re- 
sults in  greater  wear  and  tear  and  in  greater  untidiness  and  disorder. 

As  the  rents  in  the  multiple  buildings  are  usually  a  little  lower 
than  in  the  single-family  houses,  they  are  more  apt  to  be  occupied  by 
recently  arrived  immigrants  or  by  the  more  shiftless;  those  who  have 
had  time  to  find  themselves  and  those  who  have  a  pride  in  their  homes 
moving  into  single-family  houses  as  vacancies  occur,  so  but  few  of 
these  smaller  dwellings  are  tenantless.  In  River  Point  the  eight  sin- 
gle-family houses  were  all  occupied  and  their  tenants  were  emphatic 
in  expressing  their  preference  for  this  type  of  dwelling. 

In  Esmond  nearly  all  the  dwellings  are  of  the  double  or  semi- 
detached cottage  type.  In  River  Point  there  are  two  groups  of  mill 
houses.  Those  in  the  first  group  are  divided  as  follows: 

No.  Families  Total  Total  Type  of 

per  House  Houses  Families  House 

1  7  7  1 -Family,  detached 

2  50  100  I -Family,  semi-detached 
339 

4  II  44  2-Family,  semi-detached 

6  5  30  3-Family,  semi-detached 

76  190 


82 


SOME  MILL  TOWNS 


SECOND  GROUP 


No.  Families 
per  House 

1 

2 

4 


Total 
Houses 

1 

22 
4 

27 


Total 
Families 

1 

44 
16 

61 


Type  of 
House 

1 -Family,  detached 
1 -Family,  semi-detached 
2-Family,  semi-detached 


IN  BERKELEY 


No.  Families 
per  House 

2 
4 


Total 

Houses 

26 

12 

38 


Total 
Families 
52 

48 

100 


Type  of 
House 

1  -Family,  semi-detached 
2-Family,  semi-detached 


The  number  of  rooms  in  the  mill  houses  ranges  from  five  to 
seven,  though  in  a  few  dwellings  there  are  only  three  rooms.  In  River 
Point  there  are  some  two-room  apartments  in  the  basements  of  hillside 
houses.  For  these  there  is  a  waiting  list,  as  the  rent,  measured  in  dol- 
lars, not  in  value  received,  is  low.  Fifty  cents  a  week  for  two  good- 
sized  rooms,  one  a  kitchen  with  running  water,  the  other  a  bedroom, 
will  appeal  to  the  "unco  thrifty"  and  to  the  shiftless.  While  these 
rooms  are  not  so  very  bad, — two  of  their  walls  are  a  full  story  above 
ground  and  have  full-sized  windows  and  door, — their  popularity  illus- 
trates the  fact  that  there  are  always  people  ready  to  take  the  cheapest 
thing  they  can  get.  The  management  recognizes  that  these  rooms  are 
not  good  dwellings  by  requiring  the  tenants  to  move  if  a  baby  is  born, 
— a  rule  enforced  though  it  may  cost  the  mill  a  worker. 

ATTIC  ROOMS 

The  worst  feature  in  the  mill  houses,  especially  the  older  ones, 
is  the  attic  bedroom.  The  number  of  rooms  per  dwelling  is  nearly 
always  adequate,  and  the  downstairs  rooms  are  large  enough  and  well 
lighted.  But  the  attic  bedrooms  are  often  too  small  for  comfort, — 
one  of  the  tenants  visited  was  very  proud  of  the  fact  that  one  of  her 
attic  bedrooms  was  large  enough  to  hold  a  "full  bedroom  set," — 
their  low  ceilings  and  slanting  walls  further  limit  the  cubic  air  space. 
The  two  end  rooms  have  full-sized  windows,  but  there  are  often  one 
or  two  other  attic  bedrooms  which  may  have  a  fair-sized  dormer  set 
at  the  end  of  a  tunnel-like  extension,  or  a  small  window  near  the  floor, 
or  even  a  three-pane  window  set  flat  in  the  roof. 

THE  VILLAGE  YARDS 

In  spite  of  the  unlimited  areas  around  the  villages,  houses  are 
clustered  as  thickly  as  they  were  in  Providence  until  the  recent  inten- 


83 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

sive  building  began.  Yet  the  yards  are  adequate,  except,  perhaps,  in 
the  cases  of  the  multiple  dwellings,  and  there  it  is  the  type  of  dwell- 
ing, rather  than  parsimony  in  the  use  of  land,  that  is  responsible. 

PRIVIES 

The  worst  feature  of  the  yards  in  most  of  the  villages  is  the 
privy.  Even  in  Berkeley,  where  the  privy  shelter  is  combined  with  a 
woodshed  and  kept  clean  and  well  painted,  it  is  offensive  on  warm 
summer  days.  In  River  Point  one  large  group  of  privy  compart- 
ments, used  by  the  families  in  eleven  tenements,  as  well  as  the  occu- 
pants of  the  boarding  house,  are  within  twelve  feet  of  the  windows  of 
four  families.  In  Esmond  only  the  old  houses  have  privies.  These 
are  in  cleanly  condition  and  good  repair,  and  are  set  far  back  from 
the  dwellings,  which  is  good  in  one  way  but  bad  in  another,  as  it  makes 
them  more  inaccessible.  The  new  houses  of  Esmond  have  basement 
water-closets.  These  basements  are  light  and  well  ventilated,  but  as 
the  fixtures  are  set  so  near  the  level  of  the  sewer  there  are  frequent 
stoppages,  due  to  the  soil  pipe  lying  almost  horizontal. 

GARBAGE 

Garbage  disposal  constitutes  another  problem  which  the  mill  vil- 
lages have  not  solved  satisfactorily.  The  regularity  and  frequency  of 
collection  varies  according  to  the  management  of  the  village,  but  the 
practice  of  dumping  the  garbage  on  piles  near  the  dwellings  seems  to 
be  general.  In  West  Warwick  vain  efforts  have  been  made  to  stop 
the  dumping  of  refuse  at  a  place  where  rains  wash  it  into  the  Cen- 
treville-Apponaug  brook.  In  Berkeley  the  garbage  dump  has  long 
been  worse  than  an  eyesore — the  one  point  in  its  favor  being  that  when 
garbage  pails  become  full  between  the  visits  of  the  garbage  collector, 
the  tenants  themselves  can  walk  the  200  feet  between  their  dwellings 
and  the  river  bank  and  add  their  contributions  to  the  pile.  The  com- 
mon practice  of  using  wooden  receptacles,  such  as  butter  firkins,  for 
garbage  also  has  its  disadvantages,  as  the  receptacles  are  not  large 
enough  and  the  wood  soon  becomes  saturated.  Since  this  garbage  is 
not  fed  to  hogs  there  is  no  reason  why  the  water  should  not  be  drained 
off  in  the  kitchen  sink  and  the  solid  matter  wrapped  in  newspaper  be- 
fore being  put  in  the  garbage  pail.  This  would  prevent  the  pails  be- 
coming saturated  if  wood  is  still  used,  and  better,  it  would  make  pos- 
sible the  use  of  covered  metal  pails,  as  the  contents  would  not  freeze 
to  the  sides  in  winter.  In  summer  the  newspaper  wrapping  and  the 
tight  cover  would  keep  out  flies  and  other  vermin. 

MANAGEMENT 

Though  most  of  the  mill  managements  say  that  the  mill  houses 
are  things  with  which  they  would  gladly  dispense,  many  of  them  are 

84 


SOME  MILL  TOWNS 

still  building  houses, — even  some  that  are  within  the  five-cent  fare  of 
Providence.  Moreover,  in  recent  years  there  has  been  a  notable 
change  for  the  better  in  the  upkeep  of  many  of  the  villages.  Where 
hard  bare-earth  yards  had  been  are  now  gardens;  where  the  use  of 
water  for  sprinkling  was  forbidden  are  now  well-kept  little  lawns. 
In  some  villages,  as  Esmond,  the  management  offers  prizes  for  the  best 
kept  gardens,  and  though  the  new  village  is  so  new  that  it  is  not  yet 
finished,  already  there  are  promising  vegetable  patches,  and  some  of 
the  houses  have  beautiful  gardens.  Another  evidence  of  the  new  at- 
titude of  the  mill  managements  is  the  district  and  the  village  nurse. 
The  Pawtuxet  Valley  villages  have  a  Visiting  Nurse  and  an  Anti- 
tuberculosis  association  which  is  seven  years  old.  In  the  other  valleys 
individual  villages  have  nurses,  like  the  one  at  Esmond,  who  is  em- 
ployed by  the  mill.  Other  organizations,  like  the  League  of  Improve- 
ment Societies,  are  offering  prizes  for  gardens. 

CONCLUSION 

Except  for  their  attic  rooms,  there  is  nothing  so  seriously  amiss 
in  the  mill  villages  that  it  cannot  be  remedied  if  the  desire  for  better 
standards  is  aroused.  And  there  is  evidence  that  this  desire  is 
aroused.  Though  in  some  the  management  may  seek  to  avoid  trouble 
by  forbidding  vegetable  gardens,  the  contents  of  which  may  appeal 
to  others  than  the  husbandman,  and  in  others  the  management  may 
show  little  interest  in  the  appearance  of  its  bare  and  forlorn  houses, 
there  are  enough  who  take  a  more  farsighted  and  public-spirited  view 
of  their  responsibilities  to  prove  that  a  better  day  is  dawning.  The 
new  houses  are  better  than  the  old,  modern  conveniences  are  taking  the 
places  of  wells  and  privies,  gardens  are  planted  where  only  ashes  and 
cinders  were  before.  Surely,  then,  it  is  not  too  much  to  hope  that 
soon  the  leaders  will  get  together  and  work  out  a  solution  of  prob- 
lems beyond  the  ability  of  any  to  solve  singly,  and  that  the  villages 
of  the  three  valleys  will  soon  have  the  public  services  that  their  increas- 
ing density  of  population  and  their  relation  to  Providence  make  con- 
stantly more  and  more  necessary. 


85 


XI 

Summary 


TYPES  OF   HOUSES 

In  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  laid  the  chief  emphasis  upon  the 
housing  provided  for  immigrant  groups  and  that  which  some  of  them 
are  now  providing  for  themselves.  This  is  for  three  reasons : 

First.  Of  all  our  states  Rhode  Island  has,  with  possibly  one  or 
two  exceptions,  the  largest  proportion  of  foreign  born.  It  therefore 
has  the  hardest  task  in  Americanizing  alien  peoples.  In  this  task  it 
will  be  greatly  helped  or  hindered  by  the  kind  of  dwellings  in  which 
the  immigrant  peoples  live,  for  nothing  so  clearly  sets  a  group  apart 
as  a  different,  and  especially  a  lower  standard  of  living.  The  dwell- 
ing is  the  patent  sign  of  its  inhabitants'  standard. 

Second.  Two  of  these  immigrant  groups,  being  builders  of 
dwellings,  are  setting  upon  Providence  the  ineradicable  stamp  of  their 
present  standard.  Those  individuals  who  are  now  setting  this  stamp 
upon  the  city  are  the  more  ambitious  and  able.  They  and  their  fami- 
lies sooner  or  later  will  move  away  from  the  districts  they  are  creat- 
ing; but  the  districts  will  remain, — a  depressing  influence  upon  those 
of  their  blood  who  will  continue  to  live  there,  a  permanent  blot  upon 
the  city.  It  is  for  Providence  to  say  whether  it  will  accept  such  hous- 
ing standards  as  these  builders  and  their  American-born  associates  find 
acceptable  because  temporarily  profitable  to  themselves,  or  whether  it 
will  demand  standards  in  keeping  with  what  it  believes  an  American 
city  should  have. 

Third.  The  greater  number  of  dwellings  in  the  city  which  fall 
below  the  minimums  that  should  be  permitted  are  built  for  and  by  the 
immigrant  peoples  and  are  occupied  by  them. 

We  have,  however,  called  attention  to  the  housing  of  others  than 
the  immigrant  peoples.  Our  main  purpose  in  this  has  been  to  point 
out  tendencies,  for,  excepting  the  comparatively  small  number  of  dere- 
licts, the  American  born  live  in  dwellings  that  are  sanitary  and  that 
meet  most  housing  requirements.  We  have  spoken  of  the  frame  three- 
decker,  and  spoken  with  more  restraint  than  would  otherwise  have 
been  possible  were  we  not  convinced  that  its  course  is  almost  run. 
Only  under  exceptional  conditions  does  it  prove  profitable  to  its  owner 
after  the  first  few  years.  The  banks  and  other  money  lenders  will 
soon  find,  as  have  those  of  Massachusetts,  that  it  is  a  poor  investment. 
It  is  a  fire  menace ;  it  is  a  destroyer  of  property  values  in  good  neigh- 
borhoods; it  is  a  breeder  of  dissensions  among  its  inhabitants;  it  is  a 
constant  source  of  annoyance  to  its  owner;  it  is  a  disfigurement  to  the 

86 


SUMMARY 

city.  Yet  having  been  built  in  such  numbers,  there  probably  will  be 
examples  left  a  century  hence  to  show  our  great,  great-grandchildren 
how  many  of  us  lived. 

More  important  is  the  large  tenement  or  apartment  house — de- 
spite Providence  definitions  they  are  virtually  the  same.  Just  at  its 
beginning  here,  the  future  seems  to  promise  its  multiplication.  At  a 
time  when  students  of  housing  all  over  the  world  have  condemned  the 
multiple  dwelling,  at  a  time  when  German  cities,  after  centuries 
of  experience  with  this  inheritance  from  decadent  Rome,  and  New 
York,  after  generations  of  experience,  are  doing  their  utmost  to 
check  it  and  to  encourage  the  erection  of  small  houses,  those 
who  control  the  building  of  Providence  are  welcoming  it.  If 
Providence  could  have  its  experience  and  then  easily  rid  itself  of  these 
barracks,  their  coming  might  be  viewed  with  sardonic  joy.  But  they 
will  stay.  Of  all  bad  habits  they  are  the  most  permanent.  Rome 
has  them  still.  Land  that  has  been  capitalized  on  the  basis  of  an  in- 
come derived  from  a  dozen  families  cannot  be  deflated  so  that  one 
family  may  bear  the  burden. 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS 

Less  important  than  the  type  of  house,  because  more  easily 
changed,  are  the  sanitary  conditions.  Neglect  to  lay  sewers  at  the 
proper  time  may  cause  present  disease  and  future  expense,  but  the  neg- 
lect can  be  remedied  whenever  the  people  decide  that  they  will  endure 
present  conditions  no  longer.  The  acceptance  of  cellar  and  yard  wa- 
ter-closets may  be  a  source  of  sickness  and  discomfort  to  those  now 
living,  but  so  long  as  dwellings  are  properly  planned  and  ample  open 
spaces  are  kept,  indoor  toilets  may  be  installed  whenever  the  com- 
munity decides  that  only  such  conveniences  comport  with  its  sense  of 
decency.  Garbage  and  ashes  hoarded  in  bins  or  scattered  about  the 
yards  and  streets  may  shock  our  clean-up  committees  and  be  an  ever- 
ready,  if  indirect,  means  for  the  spread  of  disease,  but  they  can  be 
removed  whenever  the  tax-payers  are  willing  to  pay  the  charges. 

In  this  there  is  no  attempt  to  minimize  the  evil  consequences  of 
filth  in  all  its  manifestations.  Even  if  filth  could  be  shown  to  have 
no  connection  with  the  death  rate,  even  if  the  occasional  healthy  chil- 
dren born  and  reared  on  a  garbage  dump  could  be  taken  as  adver- 
tisements of  its  salubrity,  still  the  commonsense  of  the  community 
would  convince  it  that  cleanliness  is  better  than  filthiness.  Self-respect 
as  well  as  a  desire  for  comfort,  in  the  city  as  in  an  individual,  will 
make  it  wish  to  be  clean.  The  point  is  that,  however  dirty  a  city  may 
be,  when  its  wish  becomes  strong  enough  it  can  be  clean.  But  once  a 
city  has  permitted  its  land  to  become  overcrowded  with  buildings, 
once  it  has  substituted  barracks  for  houses,  it  may  wish  itself  into 
bankruptcy  without  changing  its  condition. 

87 


XII 

Recommendations 


A  HOUSING  CODE 

In  view  of  the  conditions  described  in  the  preceding  pages  the 
most  obvious  need  is  a  thoroughgoing  code  that  will  check  bad  ten- 
dencies. Such  a  code  may  be  either  a  Special  Act  applying  only  to 
Providence  or  a  General  Law  applying  to  all  the  cities  and  towns  of 
Rhode  Island.  In  case  a  General  Act  is  secured,  it  should  contain 
a  provision  permitting  any  city  or  town  to  raise,  but  not  to  lower,  the 
standards  it  sets.  For  a  state  law  will  probably  be  based  upon  the 
conditions  existing  in  the  worst  city  in  the  state;  or  it  may  be  that 
Newport,  Woonsocket,  or  some  other  city,  if  not  awakened  to  its 
housing  needs,  will  permit  its  influence  to  be  used  against  the  setting 
of  good  standards  and  so  cause  the  law  to  be  weaker  than  one  Provi- 
dence would  accept. 

Yet  a  General  Act  would  be  especially  valuable  in  the  case  of 
Providence  because  the  city  is  so  closely  surrounded  by  other  growing 
communities  that  whatever  advantage  it  might  secure  by  the  adoption 
of  a  Special  Act  would  be  materially  diminished  by  the  development, 
just  outside  its  borders,  of  the  conditions  against  which  it  is  fighting. 
Still,  if  a  General  Act  cannot  be  secured,  a  Special  Act  certainly 
should  be,  for  an  oasis  is  better  than  unrelieved  desert. 

A  housing  code  may  be  a  chapter  in  the  building  code  or  it  may 
be  a  separate  law,  supplementary  to  the  building  code.  In  either  case 
it  should  be  complete  in  itself,  containing  all  those  provisions  necessary 
to  safeguard  the  health  and  safety  of  the  occupants  of  dwellings. 
(The  primary  purpose  of  a  building  code  is  to  safeguard  property.) 
Inasmuch  as  the  present  Providence  building  code  contains  a  few  pro- 
visions dealing  with  housing  as  distinguished  from  building,  the  hous- 
ing code  should  contain  a  provision  repealing  them  so  that  there  may 
be  no  confusion. 

We  shall  make  no  attempt  to  outline  a  complete  housing  code, 
as  a  special  committee  is  now  drafting  one,  but  shall  merely  call  at- 
tention to  certain  points  which  our  investigation  shows  merit  special 
consideration. 

1 .  Land  Overcrowding.  This  is  the  fundamental  housing  evil. 
Once  it  has  become  widespread,  only  unsatisfactory  compromise  is 
possible.  It  has  already  begun  in  certain  parts  of  Providence  and 
should  be  stopped  now.  It  is  unusually  difficult  to  deal  with  here, 
however,  because  of  the  irregular  sizes  and  shapes  of  lots.  The  in- 
adequacy of  the  provision  in  the  present  building  code  is  vividly  illus- 


RECOMMENDATIONS 

trated  by  the  new  building  on  a  rear  lot  on  Atwells  Avenue  (fac- 
ing page  28).  In  dealing  with  land  overcrowding  the  custom  of  stag- 
gering buildings,  which  permits  of  abundant  light  and  air,  must  be 
kept  in  mind.  If  this  method  of  placing  buildings  can  be  continued 
with  adequate  open  spaces  at  the  side  and  rear,  there  is  no  need  for 
a  space  of  more  than  ten  feet  between  the  ends  of  front  and  rear  build- 
ings. 

At  the  same  time  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  as  the  city  grows 
there  will  come  the  temptation  to  fill  the  side  yards  which  now  give 
the  rear  building  its  outlook  to  the  street  and  make  the  side  rooms  of 
the  front  building  bright  and  sunny.  An  illustration  of  what  may  be 
expected,  unless  guarded  against,  is  given  at  21  and  23  Trenton 
Street.  Here  a  two-and-a-half -story  dwelling  occupied  half  the  front 
of  the  lot,  while  a  three-and-a-half-story  one  occupied  the  rear.  Now 
a  new  two-story  building  has  been  erected  on  the  unoccupied  half  of 
the  front,  almost  completely  shutting  in  the  rear  dwelling,  which  has 
access  to  the  street  only  through  a  passage-way  four  feet  wide.  Two 
of  these  buildings,  the  new  front  one  and  the  rear  one,  are  much  too 
close  to  the  lot  line,  the  former  coming  within  one  foot  of  the  side  line, 
the  latter  within  one  and  a  half  feet  of  the  side  lines  and  three  feet 
of  the  rear  line.  Needless  to  say,  if  this  kind  of  thing  becomes  com- 
mon the  majority  of  living-rooms  will  become  dark  or  gloomy. 

2.  Sanitation.  Providence  has  done  unusually  well  in  supply- 
ing water  to  its  dwellings.  Only  in  the  outlying  areas  do  people  still 
depend  upon  wells.  The  situation  in  Cranston,  too,  is  satisfactory  be- 
cause of  its  arrangement  with  the  larger  city.  But  in  East  Providence 
the  situation  is  not  satisfactory.  East  Providence  is  ceasing  to  be  a 
mere  geographical  expression,  and  becoming  a  community.  It  is  time 
that  the  Watchemoket  Fire  District  disappeared.  Water  mains 
should  be  extended  as  rapidly  as  possible  and  house  connection  should 
be  required  wherever  mains  are  accessible. 

In  regard  to  sewers  and  toilets,  neither  Providence  nor  the  sur- 
rounding communities  have  done  their  full  duty.  As  sewers  are  ex- 
tended, every  hcuse  should  be  connected,  and  power  must  be  given  to 
public  officials  to  compel  such  connection.  Moreover,  there  should  be 
less  discretion  permitted  as  to  where  toilets  may  be  installed.  Out- 
door closets  are  a  makeshift  to  be  accepted  only  when  absolutely  nec- 
essary. In  the  Providence  District  we  found  no  cases  where  this 
makeshift  is  necessary.  Cellar  water-closets  are  in  some  ways  worse 
than  those  put  in  the  yard.  Yet  there  are  many  of  them,  though  it 
would  have  been  possible  to  put  them  inside  the  dwelling.  Hall  wa- 
ter-closets also  should  not  be  permitted  when  it  is  possible  to  put  the 
closet  inside  the  apartment,  yet  there  are  a  number  of  these  closets, 
dark,  and  ventilated,  if  at  all,  with  a  small  vent  pipe. 

A  permit  to  build  a  tenement  house  or  an  apartment  house  should 
not  be  granted  unless  a  sewer  is  accessible. 


89 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

When  cesspools  are  abandoned  it  should  be  required  that  they 
be  disinfected  and  filled  up. 

3.  Fire  Hazard.     In  a  frame  city  like  Providence  the  fire  haz- 
ard is  always  considerable.     This  can  be  diminished  by  requiring  con- 
siderable open  spaces  around  buildings  and  by  forbidding  the  erection 
in  residence  districts  of  factories  where  inflammable  articles  are  manu- 
factured.    Where  buildings  are  crowded  closely  together  their  walls 
and  roofs  should  be  of  non-inflammable  materials.     Multiple  dwell- 
ings more  than  three  stories  high  should  be  of  fireproof  construction. 
Dwellings  more  than  two  stories  high  or  housing  more  than  two  fami- 
lies should  have  two  ways  of  egress  as  widely  separated  from  each 
other  as  possible.     Winding  stairs   from  bedrooms  or  living-rooms 
should  be  prohibited  in  new  or  converted  buildings.     Fire-escapes  are 
necessary  on  many  old  dwellings,  but  they  are  not  satisfactory  second 
means  of  egress.     This  should  be  provided  in  new  buildings  by  prop- 
erly constructed  stairs. 

Not  only  because  they  are  a  fire  hazard,  but  also  because  they 
become  public  nuisances,  deserted  houses,  if  not  kept  in  good  condi- 
tion, should  be  demolished. 

4.  Alteration.      The   custom   of   adding   new   stories   to   old 
dwellings  and  of  converting  barns  and  workshops  into  dwellings  makes 
it  necessary  to  consider  very  carefully  the  provisions  on  alterations. 
Some  cities  require  that  converted  buildings  shall  conform  in  all  re- 
spects to  the  provisions  for  new  dwellings. 

5.  Garbage  and  Ashes.     With  the  present  method  of  garbage 
disposal  there  is  little  that  a  housing  code  can  require  in  addition  to 
the  present  regulations.     When  a  better  method  has  been  adopted, 
however,  it  should  be  possible  to  require  the  use  of  tight,  covered  metal 
cans  for  garbage  and  cans  for  ashes.     Then  the  yards  of  Providence 
may  be  kept  clean. 

6.  Residence  Districts.     Either  as  a  part  of  the  housing  code 
or  as  a  separate  act,  a  measure  should  be  adopted  which  will  protect 
good  residence  districts  by  making  it  possible  for  owners  and  residents 
to  prevent  the  erection  of  business  buildings,  apartment  houses,  tene- 
ment houses,  three-deckers  or  other  undesirable  buildings  or  billboards 
in  their  immediate  neighborhood.     Though  as  a  general  proposition  a 
man  may  have  a  right  to  do  as  he  will  with  his  own,  that  right  has  had 
to  be  curtailed  in  many  ways  when  it  became  evident  that  the  exercise 
of  it  would  injure  others.     Property  owners  in  Providence  are  now 
restrained  from  doing  or  compelled  to  do  things  with  their  property. 
The  exercise  by  some  of  them  of  the  privilege  of  erecting  any  kind 
of  building  they  wish  is  not  only  causing  tremendous  losses  in  the  value 
of  surrounding  property,  but  is  lowering  the  character  of  whole  areas 
and  making  the  city  a  less  desirable  place  in  which  to  live. 

7.  Basement  Rooms  and  Hillside  Dwellings.     Chiefly  because 
of  the  dwellings  along  some  of  its  hillside  streets,  Providence  has  the 
beginning  of  the  basement  problem.     As  the  city  is  fairly  adequately 

90 


Sutton  Street.  Unaccepted  and  unsewered.  Here  frame  three- 
deckers  have  grown  to  be  four-deckers.  Note  fire-escapes  on 
buildings.  Note  garbage  keg  in  middle  of  picture.  Its  cover  is 
not  very  secure.  Such  houses  as  these  are  creeping  toward  the 
pleasant  residence  streets. 


Hillside    houses    on    North    Davis    Street, 
basement  rooms  may  be  used  as  bedrooms. 


Their 


c/i 


RECOMMENDATIONS 

supplied  with  dwellings,  these  basement  rooms  are  practically  never 
used  for  sleeping.  Many  of  them  are,  however,  used  for  summer 
kitchens  and  laundries.  Others  are  used  as  the  stock  rooms  of  stores 
which  stand  a  full  story  high  on  the  street  in  front.  Some  of  these 
basement  rooms  are  almost  entirely  above  ground.  Others,  by  the  time 
the  back  wall  is  reached  are  almost  entirely  under  ground.  Our 
investigations  were  made  during  a  season  notable  for  its  rain.  Yet 
we  found  few  basements  or  cellars  wet,  though  we  were  told  of  sec- 
tions of  the  city  outside  the  inspection  districts  where,  because  of  clay 
sub-soil,  cellars  are  often  half  full  of  water.  In  any  case,  Provi- 
dence has  the  beginnings  of  the  basement  problem,  and  the  law  must 
define  just  what  a  basement  is  and  what  a  cellar  is  and  state  under 
what  conditions  a  basement  may  be  occupied  for  living  purposes. 

8.  Rat  Proofing.     Providence  is  a  seaport  town  and  therefore 
liable  to  have  a  visitation  of  bubonic  plague.     So  there  is  even  more 
reason  than  in  inland  cities  for  requiring  rat  proofing. 

9.  One  of  the  great  troubles  in  enforcing  present  regulations 
is  due  to  difficulty  in  finding  the  absentee  landlord.     The  law  should 
require  that  the  owner  of  real  estate  shall  file  his  name  and  address,  or 
that  of  a  responsible  agent. 


HOW  CITY  PLANNING  MAY  AID 

A  law  setting  definite  standards  below  which  no  dwelling  may 
fall  is  not  enough  to  secure  the  building  of  such  a  city  as  Providence 
should  be.  Restriction  must  be  supplemented  by  constructive  action. 
Among  those  who  can  render  the  greatest  aid  is  the  City  Plan  Com- 
mission. It  can  study  the  probable  growth  of  the  city,  not  only  for  the 
purpose  of  laying  out  main  traffic  thoroughfares  and  deciding  where 
reservations  should  be  made  for  parks  and  playgrounds,  but  to  deter- 
mine the  ultimate  possible  or  permissible  density  of  population.  Upon 
this  depends  the  proper  distance  between  streets  and  the  proper  width 
of  streets,  the  proper  depth  of  lots,  the  proper  size  of  water  mains  and 
sewers.  Its  studies  would  also  determine  the  direction  of  streets  and 
their  grade,  so  an  owner  would  not  find  it  practically  impossible,  as 
he  sometimes  does  now,  to  connect  with  a  sewer  because  when  the 
street  is  finally  put  through  his  house  is  too  low.  Like  those  of  the 
Metropolitan  Park  Commission,  its  interests  would  lead  it  far  outside 
of  the  city  borders,  for  the  problems  in  which  it  is  concerned  cannot 
be  solved  by  Providence  alone.  The  street  system,  the  water  system, 
the  sewer  system,  must  ultimately  take  in  the  whole  metropolitan 
district,  including  the  mill  villages  up  the  valleys. 

Either  the  City  Plan  Commission  or  some  other  official  body 
should  make  a  study  of  the  unaccepted  streets  and  formulate  a  policy 
which  will  lead  to  their  being  speedily  accepted,  sewers  laid  and  the 
surfaces  paved.  Supplementary  to  this,  new  developments  should  be 
planned  so  that  the  present  situation  may  not  be  duplicated  in  the 
future. 

91 


THE  HOUSES  OF  PROVIDENCE 

HOW  CITIZENS'  ORGANIZATIONS  MAY  AID 

There  are  in  Providence  a  number  of  organizations  whose  work 
brings  them  into  constant  touch  with  housing,  such  organizations  as 
the  Society  for  Organizing  Charity,  the  Visiting  Nurse  and  the  Anti- 
tuberculosis  Association  and  the  Immigrant  Educational  Bureau. 
They  know  the  conditions  under  which  the  poorer  people  live,  and  can 
aid  both  by  reporting  violations  of  law  and  by  instructing  the  people 
as  to  what  is  good  and  what  is  bad  in  housing,  and  where  and  how  to 
get  better  dwellings.  To  a  considerable  extent  they  are  doing  this  now, 
but  it  might  be  made  a  more  definite  part  of  their  program.  This 
work  should  lead  to  the  establishment  of  a  corps  of  what,  for  want  of 
a  better  title,  might  be  called  visiting  housekeepers.  The  visiting 
nurses  have  fully  proved  their  value  to  the  community.  The  visiting 
housekeepers  would  find  a  similar  field,  where  ignorance  and  help- 
lessness wait  only  for  one  who  can  teach  and  aid. 

Providence  already  has  a  Clean  Up  Committee  which  has  drawn 
public  attention  to  the  need  for  cleaner  yards.  This  committee  might 
extend  the  scope  of  its  work.  Providence  yards  range  from  those  con- 
taining piles  of  ashes,  garbage  and  rubbish  to  those  containing  trim 
vegetable  patches  and  bright  flower  gardens.  Experience  shows  that 
the  hardest  task  is  to  make  people  negatively  good.  Also  it  is  the  one 
least  worth  while.  Tomlinsons  have  no  place  in  heaven  or  hell,  nor 
on  the  good  earth  either.  A  bare  yard  is  more  wholesome  than  one 
heaped  with  wastes.  But  a  vacuum  is  sure  to  be  filled  with  some- 
thing. Why  not  with  vegetables  and  flowers?  If  the  committee  will 
make  the  cultivation  of  gardens,  rather  than  the  cleaning  up  of  yards 
and  vacant  lots,  its  main  purpose  it  will  not  only  accomplish  the  other 
incidentally,  but  will  create  a  body  of  informed  opinion  in  favor  of 
open  spaces  that  will  be  of  very  great  assistance  in  keeping  the  open 
spaces  that  now  are  threatened  by  shortsighted  builders.  So  it  will 
ally  itself  with  those  who  would  reduce  the  fire  hazard  and  with  those 
who  wish  to  keep  Providence  a  city  in  which  the  poorest  may  have 
their  share  of  air  and  sun.  Already  the  State  League  of  Improve- 
ment Societies  is  doing  good  work  along  this  line,  and  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  by  its  distribution  at  cost  of  25,000  roses  and  spirea 
last  spring  has  shown  in  a  practical  way  the  interest  that  business  men 
take  in  the  beauty  of  the  city. 


SOME  STUDIES  THAT  MIGHT  BE  MADE 

Providence  apparently  is  about  to  turn  from  one  type  of  dwell- 
ing to  another.  Before  the  new  type  gets  firmly  established  would  it 
not  be  profitable  for  a  group  of  citizens  who  are  interested  in  realty 
values,  but  whose  interest  is  broad  enough  and  impersonal  enough  to 
permit  them  to  weigh  future  gains  against  present  gains  and  the  well- 
being  of  the  whole  community  against  the  possibility  of  greater  profit 

92 


RECOMMENDATIONS 

for  a  few,  to  make  a  serious  study  of  the  permanent  effects  of  differ- 
ent types  of  dwellings,  and  of  different  building  materials?  Have 
those  who  loan  the  money  which  makes  the  present  types  of  dwell- 
ings possible,  those  who  guide  investors,  no  moral  obligation  to  learn 
as  definitely  as  they  can  what  experience,  not  alone  in  their  own  city, 
but  in  others,  has  to  teach  as  to  the  permanent  results  of  what  they 
are  doing?  Even  if  their  clients,  the  present  investors,  come  out  of 
the  investment  gainers,  have  they  not  an  obligation  to  the  future  city 
which  will  inherit  these  buildings? 

And  what  could  appeal  to  them  as  more  interesting?  For  a 
man  likes  to  think  that  his  work  is  good  and  that  so  long  as  it  endures 
it  will  win  praise.  So  they  should  be  interested  to  know  whether 
Massachusetts,  from  which  the  three-decker  is  said  to  have  come,  has 
found  it  a  monument  of  which  its  builder  may  be  proud,  and  why. 
They  should  be  interested  to  know  whether  New  York  and  the  cities 
of  continental  Europe  have  found  the  large  tenement  or  apartment 
house  a  better  investment  than  the  small  house,  whether  their  experi- 
ence leads  them  to  favor  its  erection  in  new  areas.  They  will  find 
two  opinions  on  these  questions.  That  will  add  to  the  interest.  The 
question  is  not  a  simple  one,  even  from  the  purely  investment  point  of 
view.  What  is  the  best  type  of  dwelling,  what  are  the  best  materials 
considering  initial  cost,  depreciation,  repairs,  maintenance,  taxes,  in- 
surance, steadiness  of  rental  ?  They  might  inquire  what  is  the  small- 
est lot  that  is  really  economical,  and  who  beside  the  first  sub-divider 
really  gains  when  lots  go  below  this  minimum  size,  who  gains  by  land 
overcrowding  and  for  how  long? 


93 


Appendix 


METHOD  OF  WORK 

When  we  first  came  to  Providence  we  talked  over  the  local 
housing  situation  with  the  Committee  on  Housing  Survey.  From  them 
we  secured  suggestions  and  the  names  of  people  whom  we  should 
consult. 

The  following  week  we  spent  in  making  a  preliminary  or  path- 
finder survey  of  the  city  and  surrounding  communities  in  order  that 
we  might  get  a  comprehensive  impression  of  the  whole  problem.  Then 
we  mapped  out  our  work  in  detail  and,  after  consultation  with  city 
officials,  social  workers,  real-estate  men  and  others  in  positions  which 
brought  them  into  personal  contact  with  the  varied  housing  conditions 
of  the  city,  selected  six  districts  for  intensive  study.  These  districts 
were  chosen  carefully  in  order  that  they  might  present  accurate  pic- 
tures of  those  phases  most  significant  both  of  the  present  and  the  fu- 
ture. The  advice  given  us  in  making  this  selection  proved  its  worth 
during  the  succeeding  months  when  our  more  intimate  acquaintance 
with  Providence  made  us  better  able  to  judge.  In  only  two  instances 
did  we  find  it  necessary  to  change  from  the  original  program :  first,  by 
adding  a  third  sub-division  to  the  district  on  Federal  Hill ;  second,  by 
including  the  district  near  Manton  Avenue  in  order  to  get  a  Polish 
settlement.  The  districts  studied  were: 


District  1. 

A.  Area  included  by  Transit,  Benefit,  Pike,  Link  and  Wick- 
enden  streets  and  the  block  on  Benefit  between  Tockwotton  and  In- 
dia streets.     The  predominant  nationality  here  was  negro  Portuguese 
and  Brava. 

B.  Area  included  by  Trenton,  Ives,  Wickenden,  East,  Tran- 
sit and  Governor  streets.     Predominant  nationality,  white  Portuguese. 
Some  Irish  and  Bravas. 

District  2. 

A.  Area   included   between    Cedar,    Sutton,    Atwells,    Lily, 
Spruce  and  McAvoy  streets.     Predominant  nationality,  Italian. 

B.  Area  included  between  Swiss,  Knight,  Gesler  and  Ridge 
streets.     Predominant  nationality,  Italian. 

C.  Area  between  Atwells,  Albro,  Federal  and  Arthur  streets. 
Predominant  nationality,  Italian. 

94 


APPENDIX 

District  3. 

Area  included  between  Chalkstone,  North  Davis,  Douglas, 
Goddard,  Candace  and  Lydia  streets,  then  to  Douglas  and  to  Chalk- 
stone.  Predominant  nationality,  Jewish. 

District  4. 

Area  included  between  Richmond,  Elm,  Parsonage,  Point, 
Hospital,  Bassett,  Chestnut,  Elbow,  Ship,  and  Clifford  streets. 
Population  of  several  nationalities,  including  Americans  of  American 
ancestry. 

District  5. 

Area  included  between  Social,  Charles,  Hawkins,  Branch  and 
Opper  streets.  Predominant  nationality,  Italian. 

District  6. 

Area  included  between  Kossuth,  Bowdoin,  Appleton  and  Julian 
streets,  with  the  block  along  Julian  to  Manton  Avenue.  Predomi- 
nant nationality,  Polish.  Also  Irish  and  French-Canadian. 

These  districts  are  outlined  on  the  accompanying  maps.  In 
these  districts  every  house  was  visited,  and  when  they  were  found 
occupied  as  a  dwelling  a  schedule  similar  to  the  one  reproduced  on 
another  page  was  made  out  for  each.  In  only  one  instance  was 
admission  refused.  The  schedules  are  given  to  the  committee  as 
a  part  of  this  report  in  order  that  statements  may  be  verified. 
Otherwise  they  are  to  be  considered  confidential.  The  information 
contained  on  them  was  drawn  off  on  tabulation  sheets  which  are  also 
turned  in  as  part  of  this  report.  The  more  important  data  was  then 
made  up  in  tables  which  appear  on  the  preceding  pages. 

During  the  course  of  the  investigation  we  consulted  frequently 
with  local  people  and  we  took  two  trips  through  the  districts  with 
several  persons  most  intimately  acquainted  with  local  conditions,  point- 
ing out  what  we  had  found  and  asking  for  suggestions  in  order  that 
we  might  learn  of  any  oversights  or  false  deductions. 

The  investigations  were  begun  on  May  1  and  continued  until 
August. 


95 


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UNIVEESITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

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DEC        1919 


1925 


50m-7,'16 


YC  26286" 


393433 

• 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


